Home is where the Heart is
by Serosa
Summary: Falling asleep in a place where no one cares, and then waking up where his life had had its start. Egypt can never be the same, can it? Yami Bakura POV, yaoi, shounen ai, read notes...
1. Chapter 1

**Note: I got bored and am having a major author's block on all of my current fics, so I decided to write this while waiting for an inspiration.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the YuGiOh characters, if I did, the manga/series wouldn't be the way it/they is/are.**

**Warning: This story will contain yaoi (male-male) and/or shonen ai (light male-male). It will contain angst, and it will be written in Yami no Bakura's POV (point of view).**

**Warning 2: I didn't check this text through as much as I normally do, so please inform me if you find any faults, and if you do, I'm ever so sorry about it.**

**Home is where the Heart is**

It was one of those early winter days at the park. You know the ones, cold, with ice and snow everywhere…? Anyway, we were walking around, me, my light, the bastard pharaoh and his midget, and their idiot friends. I and the pharaoh had separated from our lights. And just to be "fair" towards the others, we'd taken a solid form. Yes, we can take solid forms, but it requires a lot of concentration and energy, and it only lasts for a few hours at a time. We'd used up already half of our time.

Now, this was a pretty normal day so far. I and the pharaoh were engaged into one of ours "BastardPharaoh/StupidTombRobber" fights. Well it's something to do, at least.

We were just walking over a smaller ice covered river leading to or from the ice covered lake in the snow covered park. The bridge over it was old and made of wood, and it only had a railing on one side of it. Beats me why, though... Ryo says it makes it look older. I don't get it. There weren't bridges like this one during my time…? But I think it makes crossing it a bit more interesting. Especially if you walk on the side without a railing during winter when the whole thing is covered in ice… Heheheh…

Of course Ryo asked/begged me to come away from the edge while the pharaoh talked about pushing me over if it wasn't for my light. I ignored both of them. Neither one was worth my time. Besides, Ryo didn't really care for me; it was just in his nature to look after others. Sigh…

This was the point where I slipped. No! Of course I didn't fall! I'm a thief! I've got better balance than that! But then there was those damn kids playing tag or something like that who pushed me when they ran over the bridge and past us. I decided then and there that I officially hated 'tag'. I hated kids for that matter too. I didn't really have time to think anything else before I fell through the layer of ice and into the cold water. And damn it hurt!

The freezing water was like needles, very thick needles, piercing every square centimeter of my skin. I would have cursed but figured that cursing under water wouldn't be so smart, so instead I started swimming towards the surface. I had to get there before the cold would paralyze my limbs. I could already feel the numbness creeping over me.

With great difficulty I managed to reach the surface. I could touch it with my hands, but I couldn't get through it. I tried to find an exit, using my hands to feel at the ice, but nothing could be found. I realized that the hole I created when I fell must have frozen over, leaving a coat of ice over the water again. In frustration I pulled back my right hand and punched the ice above me, but all it resulted was a burning wound over my knuckles, and my blood coloring the water around me red. This time I did curse. And it wasn't such a good idea.

'Ryo..!' I thought when the burning in my lungs became more intense, 'I need to contact Ryo! I need him to break the ice!' Over and over again I called over the mind link for Ryo to break the ice. I called for him to free me. I called for him to answer me. Finally I asked if he could even hear me.

Why wasn't he answering? Why wasn't he doing anything? Oh yeah… he didn't care. He would probably just be happy if I died. They all would…

I could see bubbles. I was wondering where they came from. Somehow seeing them calmed me. I felt at peace. I hardly noticed the light trough the ice dimming as darkness covered my sight. I felt myself floating, and then… I felt nothing.

**TBC…**


	2. Chapter 2

**Let's play a game! It's called: "Can you guess the pairings?" Of course I already know what pairings to use, but I want to give you a chance to guess them before revealing them. Hint: They're mostly yaoi.**

**Ch. II**

To tell you the truth I was shocked several times when I woke up. I was lying on a bed, slightly hard, but oddly comfortable at the same time. That was the first shock. I was covered with a soft, thin mantle. Somewhat like silk... I just couldn't figure out who the amenta would have a bed like this, so I forced my eyes to open. The walls around me were decorated with gold and hieroglyphs. In a few corners there were statues of different Egyptian gods. That was the second shock. I felt a presence near me and slowly turned my head, next to the bed stood a young tanned girl with long brown hair. She smiled at me in a very disturbingly happy way…

"Ren-i en Mana," she said. "Pet en ren-ek..?" I opened and closed my eyes a few times, recalling the language I hadn't spoken in three millennia. Her… name was Mana? I completely forgot to answer her question about my name and the girl leaned closer, frowning.

"Can you understand me?" she asked in the ancient Egyptian language. I nodded dumbly and her smile returned. "You were lucky. We were sailing down the Nile when a soldier saw your body. After the soldiers lifted you from the water, my king wanted you to be taken care of. Lady Isis told me to stay with you. Lord Seth guessed you were attacked by some thieves and then thrown into the Nile to die. Is that true?" I nodded numbly again, not sure what else to do. Damn this kid talked a lot! After my small answer she continued: "I guessed so too! Poor you… Well don't worry! My Lord Mahaado said that it must have been the will of the Gods that we happened to find you! My King thinks so too and he told us to take good care of you." Ra… she's repeating herself… just my luck to be stuck with some brat that doesn't know when to shut up.

Mana smiled happily at me again and started walking towards the door.

"I will tell my Lord Mahaado that you have awakened," she said "And I will send some slaves to bathe you and bring you new clothes. There is fruit and water on the table next to you. Until we meet again..!" And then she was out from the room. Thank! Ra!

I turned my head and saw a plate filled with slices of watermelon. Oh great! I love watermelon! You have no idea how handy they come when you're traveling in the middle of the desert. As I sat up and reached out for a slice I noticed that I was naked, not that it was so surprising. The healers probably didn't want to put me in bed with wet clothes.

Okay… Now it was time to figure out what was going on. Was I… in the Egypt of my past? Sure looked like it. And Mana was…? I really couldn't remember who she was supposed to be, but I guessed I would find out sooner or later… I ate a few slices of watermelon, getting the juice all over my hands and chin. Ah, this brought back memories…

I was just about to reach after my fifth, or was sixth slice when the heavy door opened. And believe me those doors are heavy, about half a foot thick and made of stone. Back to the point… the door opened and in came four men. By the looks of it, they were slaves or some other servants. They all bowed deeply to me. I could really get used to this! Four more men walked in, carrying a big decorated tub made of gold and wood. It was filled to the rims with steaming water. These men didn't seem like slaves, but soldiers, or some sort of guards. The tub was placed onto the floor and the door was closed. The four servants begged me to enter the tub. I noticed that some of them were holding bottles of oil and combs, and one was holding something that seemed like clothing.

Now think about my options. On one hand it would be nice to wash off the stickiness of the watermelon juice, on the other it meant letting eight unknown men see me but naked. Damn.

The will to get clean was stronger than my modesty, (and yes, I do have modesty,) and I ended up climbing into the tub, doing my best not to blush. I think I succeeded somewhat.

As soon as I was settled in the water the four servants started to bathe and pamper me. They washed and combed my hair and added a reasonable amount of oil into the water, and onto my body. Mmm… lotus oil… The scent was familiar to me. I remembered once stealing a bottle of lotus oil straight from the pharaoh's temple. After a while I relaxed and just let them bathe me. Not much I could do about it anyway… And besides, it did feel sort of nice. Sort of like a spa!

I got out when the water started to cool and immediately the servants grabbed some towels and started drying me of. I felt like a fool standing there naked with my arms slightly stretched to the sides and four men drying my body with towels almost as thin as paper. Once I was all nice and dry the servants dressed me in the clothing they'd brought. It was a simple white tunic with a golden and blue sash and a pair of sandals. If it hadn't been for the sash I would have called it a commoners clothing. It wasn't fancy, but it was finer than what I used to wear as the thief king. And it was a lot fancier than the servants' simple white waist cloths.

As I admired myself in a large mirror at one end of the room I could hear a nock, and soon after the door opened. I turned and though my eyes widened I tried not to show how startled I was. The man who stood there had a long white priest's robe and a golden almost-crown. His hair was covered by a white head cloth, held in place by the crown, but still a few lavender strains of hair could be seen. It was Mahaado. The high priest I killed, or am going to kill in the near future of the past.

Just ignore the fact that that didn't make sense, okay? Good.

"My King wishes to see you," Mahaado said and bowed slightly. I nodded and followed him out down the hallway. The four guards followed a few steps behind us. Every now and then the high priest would glance at me from the corner of his eye. After a while it became quit annoying and I was about to snap at him when he asked:

"What is your name?"

"Bakura," I answered without thinking. Immediately I cursed myself. He'd probably think I was the Thief King Bakhura and have me thrown into prison! Yeah, I know I am, or was the Thief King Bakhura but I'm not anymore! Well not in this past anyway… I mean now there are two Bakuras in this time because I'm still pale and if I had returned to my old body I would have both shorter hair and darker skin. Plus my eyes would be blue, not red.

"Bakhura?" Mahaado asked, bending my name to fit his mother tongue. The purple eyes looked at me suspiciously and he stopped walking. I stopped as well and waited anxiously for him to say something. "You don't look like him…" the high priest mumbled. "But still…"

"Look like who?" I asked and faked my best Ryo innocence. Mahaado seemed to buy it.

"Do you know the thief king Bakhura?" he asked. I acted as if I was thinking about it before nodding.

"Only by reputation," I lied. All those years of acting Ryo really paid off. "Everyone usually calls me Kura, because people often get confused by my name." On the outside I may have seemed calm, but silently I was praying to whatever God that might still like me that Mahaado would believe me. After a few agonizing moments in where I could recall every last detail of the Egypt dungeons, Mahaado smiled and continued walking.

"I am fonder of the name 'Kura'," he said. I silently let out a breath. Never did I think I would thank my light and the Ishtars for giving me that silly nickname. "I am Mahaado, high priest, and carrier of the millennium ring."

After several twists and turns along the corridor, we finally arrived at a large pair of decorated doors. A few servants immediately hurried to open the doors for us and one servant rushed in to inform of our arrival. Mahaado walked in to the room with an air of confidence around him. I followed closely behind, looking around myself, filled with curiosity.

"My King, this is the man from the river. He has presented himself as 'Kura'," Mahaado said loudly. I slowly turned towards the throne, fearing the worst. "Kura, I believe you know our king, Atem."

…

Damn.


	3. Chapter 3

**Could someone give me the names of all the high priests, I'm afraid I can't remember the names of some. I know Seth, Isis, Mahaado and Shaadah and there are two missing.**

**Ch. III**

I stared at the pharaoh sitting on his throne. Why couldn't he just be dead? I noticed some of the people gathered in the room looking at me as if I were insane or completely disrespectful. Beside me Mahaado glanced at me nervously. A little too late I remembered that no one was supposed to look at the king directly. Well… too bad. I never used to follow the rules anyway so I just continued looking straight into his eyes. Atem seemed surprised by my boldness/stupidity. Then suddenly there was a twitch at the corner of his mouth. And then another, and another until he smiled openly. I was positive something bad would happen. By now the high priests, and anyone else in the room for that matter, looked completely stupefied, surprised by the smile I'd guess. I thought Seth would fall over in shock when the bastard pharaoh started talking!

"'Kura'… Such an interesting name…I hope my priest has treated you well, young Kura," he said. I shrugged and answered that I had nothing to complain about. That made Atem smile even wider while the high priest were all having a heart attack. And here I thought no one except for a high priest was allowed to speak directly with the pharaoh. I looked at the people around us from the corner of my eye and started placing bets with myself about who was going to faint first. The old geezer next to the throne looked pretty unsteady… The bastard pharaoh nodded a little and narrowed his eyes on me. Then he simply stated:"You will accompany me for dinner." It wasn't even a request, it was an order. A straight fort statement which he expected me to comply! As self-centered as ever… That bastard…

Everyone fell to their knees when the pharaoh rose and walked straight towards me. I stayed standing, of course. After all, I won't kneel in front of that bastard. I did however get a bit edgy by the way he was looking at me… I did my best not to move away, even when he placed his hand on myshoulder and directed me out through a different set of double doors. I cast one last glance over my free shoulder and saw all the priests staring after us like the pharaoh had gone mad.

At- I mean… The bastard pharaoh led me through a set of corridors I vaguely remembered from my thieving days, never once moving his hand from my shoulder. I didn't feel like risking getting thrown into prison for offending the pharaoh so I just stayed silent. From the corner of my eye I could see the pharaoh smirking as he decided to move his hand. I fought back a startled reaction to yelp and pull away when I felt his arm encircle my waist. I did however stop walking and turned to stare at the bastard with eyes widened partly in shock, partly in horror. The pharaoh didn't even glace at me of falter in his steps when he pulled me with him from my waist. Oh. The. HORROR!

After walking for a while, a way, way too long while in my opinion, we finally arrived to the dining room. The bastard pharaoh led me to a chair and let go of me. Finally! Thank Ra! I though I was going to die! He told me to sit and motioned for the servants to bring out food. After that the pharaoh himself sat down by the end of the table. It was a pretty short wooden table, polished until the surface gleamed like gold. The pharaoh sat on a small throne like chair at the end of the table and I sat where he had directed me. …By his left side.

"These are my private chambers," the pharaoh said and motioned around himself. I let my gaze wander on the walls and artifacts. Oh! There was that statue of a ram I remembered stealing! Apparently my past self hadn't gotten that far yet. "If I gave the order, no one would disturb us here," he continued. I snapped my head back towards him and saw him smirking. What the hell was he thinking about anyway? On second thought, I didn't want to know… Plates of food were placed before us and the pharaoh nodded towards the food. "Now eat."

I looked down at the fruits and meat. I'd lost my appetite, but then again I was hungry, so reluctantly I raised a drape and ate it before continuing with a piece of the meat. We ate with our hands since there weren't any tools designed for it. Not that I'm complaining, not at all! After a while I looked up at the bastard and asked:

"Why did you bring me here?" The pharaoh looked at me surprised about my boldness to speak when not spoken to. He thought for a while before leaning closer and answered.

"Well, to speak the truth, you intrigue me. I have never seen anyone like you. Your spirit is free, and your appearance…" At this point he reached out and ran his fingers over my temple and down my cheek. I instinctively pulled away. "…is blessed by the Goddess Isis herself." I narrowed my eyes on him and glared. He pulled back his hand while raising a questioning brow.

"Yeah, well, just remember that I don't like being touched," I growled. Yeah I was still afraid of being thrown into jail but that bastard just crossed the line! I'd rather be in prison that be touched like that by the pharaoh. But the worst was yet to come. The pharaoh smiled through half closed eyes and rose from his seat. I stood up as well just to keep us even.

"I will bear that in mind, though it matters but a little," the pharaoh said and took a step forward. I stepped backwards and found my chair so inconveniently behind me. "You, young Kura, should be honored I've taken such interest in you." I clenched my fists, ready to punch him no matter the consequences.

"I'm not some common whore," I hissed with venom and started walking past him. From the corner of my eye I saw the pharaoh glare at me and then I was thrown with my back against the table. I barely had time to gasp for breath before a mouth covered my own. I felt the pharaoh's tongue stroke every corner of my mouth while his hands pressed down on my hips. I didn't even think as I bit down at his tongue and pushed him away from me before fleeing the room without looking back.

I ran down the corridor, not caring where I ended up as long as it was far away from that insane pharaoh. What the amenta was with him anyway? Since when did he have such interests in me? Perhaps I should have paid closer attention to Yami no Yugi and his never-ending ranting. Oh My Ra! What if Yami also had some weird obsession of me! No. No, no no nononono. Not happening. Can't be happening! I was fully aware that I was starting to panic and I really hate all of you who are reading this and laughing. Let's have your worst enemy stick their tongue down your throat and we'll see who's laughing then!

With all the thoughts running through my head I didn't really look where I was running and as I turned a corner the most cliché thing to be expected happened. I ran into someone and the sudden impact sent me falling on my ass. Ouch, my poor ass… The one I ran into staggered but managed to stay standing. I directed my accusing glare at the face of whoever it was, but I'm afraid my glare faltered when I recognized the person.

"I thought you were having dinner with the pharaoh," Seth stated coldly. I growled and stood up.

"The dinner ended," I said simply and turned my angry gaze away. Instead I looked at my surroundings and hesitated. Where the amenta was I?

"Lost?" Seth asked and I could hear the smirk in his voice. I clenched my fists and bit my teeth together. Don't lose your temper… Don't lose your temper… Oh, to amenta with it.

"Yeah, I'm lost! So what! It's not like I've been in these parts of the palace before!" I snapped as I turned to face him. Seth simply regarded me with a smirk.

"Why, then, did you not ask for a guide as you left the pharaoh's chambers?" he asked. Then his expression turned smug. "Or perhaps you could have stayed in the King's chambers. I'm sure your every need would have been well looked upon…" I felt myself flush with anger from what he was suggesting and for a moment I wondered what the sentence for killing a high priest would be? Oh who cares, it's not like I haven't killed one before…

"I'm not a whore! If that bastard ever tries to touch me again, I swear I'll kill him!" I all but shouted at the tall priest. Seth raised his hand to calm me down though his smirk wavered somewhere between a frown and laughter.

"I wouldn't recommend shouting out death threats to the pharaoh in the middle of his own palace," the priest said calmly. I hate to admit it but he was right. Now I just felt stupid. I cast quick glances down both ways of the corridor but luckily there was no one in sight. Let's hope there was no one in hearing range either.

"Do not be worried, young Kura," Seth interrupted my scanning the area. What's with everyone calling me 'young'? I'm over three thousand years old dammit! "These parts of the palace are often deserted. That is why I often choose to come here and think." I nodded and crossed my arms over my chest. After a few calming breaths I asked:

"So how do I get back to my room?"

"I will show you," Seth answered and motioned for me to walk with him. It was my first day in my home land and I seriously don't know what to think. I just hope Seth doesn't get any funny ideas…

Not to mention that bastard pharaoh.


	4. Chapter 4

**Is there a name for the paring Pharaoh Atem x Yami no Bakura? If not then I would like to call it "Curseshipping", unless some other pair already uses that name. Thanks to Bakura-star-Ryou-cutie for giving me the name of one of the priests. Yes, I believe Akunumkanon was Atem's father. **

**Translation for later in the chapter: Ammit wenem sew. Nesew bin, means, hopefully, May Ammit eat him. Miserable king.**

**Ch. IV**

Who could have thought I'd actually enjoy a high priest's company? Yes, I admit it: I enjoyed the company Seth provided while directing me back to my room. They say great minds think alike, well, he might not have been as insane as I, but we did share an equal amount of ambition. As well as an almost equal dislike towards the pharaoh. Though his dislike was closer to irritation, while mine went way past hate…

Actually the walk with Seth made me forget all the fucked up stuff that had happened so far.

"Tell me, young Kura, where are you from?" Seth asked as we walked. The name Egypt almost slipped my lips but then I figured that an albino in Egypt would be too suspicious.

"I'm from a land quite far from here," I answered. "It's called 'Japan'." I looked at Seth as he seemed to consider what I'd said.

"I have never heard of that land…" he admitted at last. "Are all the people there as pale as you?"

"Nah, not really. Most have either brown or black hair," I mumbled. "Guess I'm just special." After hearing this, Seth smirked again and leaned closer.

"I can coincide with that," he said in a low voice. I faltered in my steps and blinked in astonishment. Seth only laughed and disappeared behind a corner. That… teasing priest! As a result of his words I found myself remembering what the pharaoh told me. 'Your spirit is free, and your appearance is blessed by the Goddess Isis herself.'

"Have everyone gone insane?" I muttered in Japanese and hurried after the priest. Oh, if I'd only knew then what I know now.

As we walked passed a window I stopped to get a good look at the surroundings. I could see the palace yard below, and surrounding that, a high stone wall. Behind the wall I saw the city preparing for the night and in the horizon the sun was setting behind the dunes of the desert, spreading a golden yellow light everywhere. Ah, how I missed the times when I would watch the sunset from the back of my camel, and then steer the animal towards the awaiting tombs once darkness fell.

When you think about it, it's not that surprising that it was nightfall already. I did after all wake up sometime after midday, and walking around the palace does take its time.

I could feel Seth move to stand behind me, but I was still startled by how close he was when he finally spoke.

"This is the black land at its most beautiful," he murmured. "Would you not agree, Kura?" I nodded, and moved a bit further away from the brunette, sending a warning glare over my shoulder. He seemed to take the hint and took a step back.

"Your chamber is not far, right this way," he said and started walking again. After casting a final glance at the view, I followed. I started thinking about what my past self could be doing tonight. Was I preparing for a new raid? Did I decide to lie back for a while? Hard to know since I didn't know what day or even month it was. I think it was the season of hapy, when the Nile would overflow.

Seth stopped so suddenly that I nearly ran into him. Luckily my thieves' instincts kicked in for once and saved me from the embarrassment.

"I hope you memorized at least a bit of the palace now," Seth said as he turned towards me. I nodded. Being the skilled tomb robber that I am, I automatically place small details into my memory, even when I'm in deep thoughts. I opened the thick door to my room and stepped inside with a sigh. Yep, it was my room alright. I turned to face Seth again and forced a 'thanks,' for helping me find my room.

Seth bowed slightly, grabbed my hand and then proceeded to place a light kiss on the back of it. My eyes widened and I snatched my hand away from him.

"It was my pleasure, Kura," the priest then said and walked down the corridor. I growled and almost slammed the door shut. What was with these people? First the pharaoh and now Seth? I know I'm hot and all, but still! Weirdoes. I walked out onto the balcony to cast one final look at the desert. Yes, I had missed Egypt a lot. After a while of just looking at the view, I walked back into my room and pulled off my clothes. I washed myself with the water placed next to one wall for that purpose and climbed into the bed. I slowly drifted to sleep.

I was awakened the next morning by a few servants. I rubbed my eyes and sighed when I saw the four soldiers and the bathtub painted in gold. I guess I saw it coming. All the pampering made me feel like some high and mighty lord. Or better yet, a king. I allowed the servants to coax me into the warm water and immediately they started washing my hair and adding scented oil in the water. I was still yawning when I rose from the bath and spread my arms so that the servants could dry my body. However, when they started to dress me I had to blink in awe.

The clothes I was given were way more luxurious then the day before. The long tunic was in a royal blue, expensive fabric. They tied a golden sash around my waist and placed golden bracelets and necklaces on me. I grabbed one of the servants' shoulders when he fastened a bracelet with a blue scarab on my upper arm.

"What is all this?" I asked him. He bowed to me and pulled away slightly.

"Gifts from our king," he answered dutifully.

Yeah. I was shocked. I inflict physical damage on him and he sends me jewelry?

"Why?" I asked out loud. The servant seemed to hesitate.

"Our king Atem wishes you to wear these," he said.

"Why?" This time I noticed the other servants, and even the guards looking a bit hesitant.

"I believe it is because you look beautiful in them," a new voice said. I turned around to look at Seth who stood by the door.

"And just how long have you been here?" I wondered suspiciously. What is he, a pervert? Shees.

"Not long, young Kura," Seth answered and motioned for the servants and soldiers to leave. Once the door closed behind them he gave me an odd smile. I don't know why it seemed odd, it just did.

"You seem to have left an impression on our king," the priest said. I scoffed.

"So in other words, this is just a way to get me in his bed? Disgusting bastard." My comment actually made Seth laugh.

"Yes, I believe it might be," he replied, smiling. Then he seemed to sober a little. "The pharaoh and high priests wish you to accompany them at breakfast. Will you come?" Once again, I scoffed.

"Do I have a choice?" Then I added in a mumble: "Ammit wenem sew… Nesew bin." Once again Seth started laughing and guided me out of the room and towards the dining hall.


	5. Chapter 5

**Ch. V**

Question: Was there any part of the palace that wasn't overly done with paintings and statues? Answer: No. It's a crime, I tell you! Some people work their entire life and hardly have anything to eat, and others live surrounded by… by… expensive stuff!

And to top it of, that guy had been glaring at me the entire meal, though I'm still not completely sure why. I just glared back. I bet you're all wondering "What guy?" Well I'll tell you. It was that old geezer Shimon… Shamon… Shomon, whatever his name was. The idiot pharaoh, who was sitting between us by the way, hadn't noticed anything. I don't think anyone else had either.

…

…

Perhaps I should explain?

As I walked down the hall together with Seth I noticed both servants and guards glancing at me. I think some of them were trying to check out my ass. Man, I didn't remember people being this rude. But then again, I wasn't rumored to be the pharaoh's pleasure slave at that time. Nor did I have unnaturally (for Egypt) pale skin. I'm so going to kill that bastard.

I was sent some pretty weird stares when I entered the dining room, striding behind Seth. Then, after the pharaoh had given me a most welcoming smile, they all ignored me. All except for Shi… Sha… er… Shomon? Now, I knew from the very beginning that there was something wrong with the sitting order. We were eating at a long polished table. At the end of the table sat the pharaoh. By his right side, the proper place for an advisor, sat Shi-Sha-Shomon. Heh heh heh… Shi-Sha-Shomon. Sounds like some stupid pokemon. Next to him sat Mahaado, Isis and finally Shaadah. I, on the other hand, sat by the pharaoh's left side. Next to me sat Seth, Kalim and then Akunadin. I knew there was something odd in it all, but I couldn't remember what. Something told me that I should have been on the other side of Akunadin, as far from the pharaoh as possible.

Anyway, in the middle of our glaring contest, while sipping on the rich wine, I got an idea. I closed my eyes to gather an air of Ryo-innocence around me and faked a nervous smile while opening my eyes and placing the goblet back on the table.

"Is something wrong?" I asked, looking straight at the old man. Like I predicted, everyone at the table turned to look at Shi-Sha-Shomon. The geezer forced a smile on his face.

"Not at all," he answered, forcefully polite. "I was simply thinking of some matters that need to be discussed with King Atem in private." Liar. Atem raised a brow at the geezer and then turned to me with a warm, award-winning smile.

"Take no notice of Shimon," he said. "He may be an old fool, but a trustworthy and wise advisor nonetheless." I nodded and the pharaoh, and everyone else, turned back to the food. I looked over the table to see Pokemon (snort) clenching his teeth in anger and glaring at me. I smirked back and let my victory dance show in my eyes. Score one for Bakura.

Still smirking I raised the goblet, but nearly choked on the wine as I felt a hand on my right knee.

"Are you alright, Kura?" the royal pain in the ass asked with that same damn smile. I just stared at him in disbelief for a while, while the hand moved slightly higher, before forcing a smile of my own and answering:

"I'm fine."

The pharaoh nodded and turned to have a conversation with Mr. Pokemon, while the hand gave a slight squeeze and moved even higher. I took a casual sip from the goblet while moving my hand under the table and stabbing my nails into the back of the offending hand. The pharaoh winced and snatched his hand away, sending me a pretty angry look. I glared right back, reminding him of the no touching rule. The pharaoh was obviously displeased. Hmph, serves him right. From the corner of my eye I notice Seth glancing at us with a raised eyebrow. I had no idea how much he had noticed, nor did I really care.

I sensed more than heard the perverted ruler at the end of the table sigh. What worried me was that suddenly his annoyance was replaced with amusement.

"Have you enjoyed your stay at the palace, young Kura?" he asked. I was still suspicious about his sudden change when I answered.

"It's been… bearable." I could feel the eyes of every single priest on us. Made me wonder if they had any life of their own whatsoever… Obviously there had to be some rule like: "When the pharaoh is talking, everyone must listen." How should I know? Between stealing and running for my life I didn't really have time to learn about life at court. The pharaoh frowned, but I could still see the amusement through his eyes.

"Have you been lacking anything?" the bastard asked. Before thinking I blurted out:

"Yeah. My freedom." I think the pharaoh was genuinely surprised. I could hear silent gasps from the priests and the servants, as if I'd just cursed their ruler. The pharaoh's frown seemed slightly troubled.

"I assure you, young Kura, you are no prisoner," he said. "I truly apologize if that is how you have felt." I found myself frowning, completely taken off guard. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I wasn't a prisoner, and still I needed to be escorted to where ever I went? He gave me expensive clothes and jewelry and allowed me to eat together with him and the high priests; but still he treated me like some personal love slave? I felt completely confused and at loss of words.

"Kura..?" Atem questioned after a while. I muttered an excuse and fled the room. I felt like a coward doing so, yet I couldn't stand being there any longer. I felt too confused and needed time to compose myself.

I breathed in deep breaths as I hurried down the corridor. For some reason I felt like there wasn't enough air around me, and despite of the Egyptian heat, I shivered.

Ryo. I realized I had been trying to contact Ryo through the mind link. I wanted to ask him why I couldn't breathe. I shivered again. A murky darkness covered my sight. 'Ryo… Why can't I breathe?'

I don't know how long I was out. I'm not even sure of what happened. The first thing I noticed when I woke up was that I was lying on a bed. I decided to lie there with my eyes closed, trying to sense if there were other people around. I did feel one presence. It was right beside me. Slowly, I opened my eyes. It was impossible to mistake the tri-colored hair. The pharaoh was sitting on a stool beside my bed. Other vice the room seemed empty. As if feeling my eyes on him, the pharaoh turned his head from wherever he had been staring and looked down at me.

"So, you have awoken," he commented, smiling slightly. To me he looked somewhat relieved. I shifted into a better position and licked my lips.

"How long was I out?" My voice was groggy and weak. The pharaoh closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall behind him.

"Not long," he answered. "Only for a few hours." I swallowed, trying to rid myself of the grogginess.

"What happened," I wondered out loud. I really had no idea. All I remembered was having trouble breathing. The pharaoh opened his eyes and looked at me with an unreadable expression.

"The servants found you lying unconscious on the floor," he said after a while. Another moment of silence passed before he spoke. "Would you like some water?" Again, I swallowed, nodding my head. The pharaoh rose from the stool, never breaking eye contact.

"I will send for a servant," he said. "When you are feeling well enough, you may join me and my priests in the garden." The sleepiness was wearing off now, and I started wondering over how differently the arrogant asshole was acting. In fact, he was being quite pleasant.

After hesitating for a second or so the pharaoh leaned down and pressed his lips on mine. So much for being pleasant. The kiss was soft and… sweet? Gah! Never let me call anything coming from that bastard sweet again! I must be loosing my mind. The kiss was too quick for me to have time to bite him, like last time. Yuck. Asshole. How dare he take advantage of me like that? I was about to snap at him when he interrupted me:

"Do not hate me, Kura. And do not feel angered with me. For because of your beauty I could not resist." Resist my ass! I guess I did a pretty good impression of a fish for a while, trying to find something intelligent to say. I watched the pharaoh walk towards the door. Finally I just blurted out the first thing that came to mind:

"Resist my ass!" Not a normal expression in Egypt, but from my voice I knew the pharaoh knew I was pissed. Still he turned around at the door, sending a smirk my way.

"How could I possibly do that?" he asked. My eyes widened further and I felt a blush creep over my cheeks.

"Perverted bastard! That's not what I meant!" This earned me a chuckle from his royal bastardness. The pharaoh opened the door, but stopped for a moment to say one last comment. "I'm glad you are awake now, Kura. I was worried." With that said, he left, closing the door behind him.

Gods I hate him.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hello. I'm writing again. I need something to do while I'm struggling with my stories, so I decided to return to ****"Home is where the Heart is" once more. Lucky me. And once more, this chapter, like the rest of the story, hasn't been checked through, so misspelling, weird fraises and general wrong use of words will be evident.**

**Ch VI**

I lay in the bed for a while longer after the pharaoh left, trying to figure out what had happened. For a moment, before passing out, I could have sworn I was still underwater, and drowning. I wondered, what if I was still in that pond in the park, and all this was just some hallucination or dream? What if I was actually dying, again, out there in Japan? The though kind of depressed me and I guess that's why I decided to take the pharaoh's offer to meet him and the priests in the garden. I took a deep breath before opening the door, just to make sure there still was air around me. Outside of my room stood two guards who looked like they were the pharaoh's own bodyguards. It creped me out until they gave me a formal bow that clearly said "We have orders to protect you." Admittedly, that was cool. I'm more used to running away from the guards then having them protect me.

"Please follow, Pharaoh Atem awaits you," one of them said. I nodded and followed them to the royal garden. Once we reached the place, they took stance by the entrance and I took a look around.

"Ah, young Kura, you seem to be feeling better," a voice said and the owner came to walk next to me. I glanced at Mahaado and offered him something close to a smile

"Yes, much better," I told him. "It was probably just the heat. I'm not used to it." Mahaado raised an eyebrow, most likely remembering that I was from another country.

"What is it like in your home land?" the lavender-haired man asked. I shrugged, not really feeling like talking.

"Colder," I stated shortly. I guess the high priest took the hint and the subject was dropped. He showed me around the garden, and though obviously I've run through it many times before, I took some interest in hearing names and histories of the more exotic plants and statues. Slaves ran around everywhere, fighting to keep everything alive. I instantly fell in love with the place. It reminded me of the oasis' I've come across in the desert. I never noticed it before, but then again, as I said, I used to run through.

In time I relaxed enough to actually enjoy Mahaado's company. I didn't like him. I never did and still don't. But he was civilized towards me so I was polite in turn. I can be polite if I want to.

After a short tour with Mahaado, we found the other priests and the pharaoh walking around in the shades, talking about rumours from the city. They sort of quietened when I and Mahaado approached, and I swear Mr. Pokemon looked like he wanted to slap me around when the High-And-Mighty abandoned his company in favour of mine. Nyah nyah. Heh, pissing him off was about as fun as pissing the pharaoh off. Maybe because he looks like that Yugi-midgets grandpa, or… I'm not sure… Oh who cares! It's still fun! Anyway, back to the story. Man, I love writing. I get to ramble all I want about things no one really cares about and you losers, erm, wonderful people, still read it because… Hell, why are you reading this? The story… Right.

So pharaoh High-ass left the company of his priests, glanced at Mahaado to show that the high priest had been noticed, and then linked his right arm under my left and pulled me with him before I could protest.

"How do you like my palace garden, young Kura," the pharaoh asked.

"It's nice," I answered and pulled my arm free. Well, tried to at least. He had a pretty good grip on me, and Atem is way stronger than Yami, trust me. And of course his idiotness acted like he didn't notice my struggle to free myself. "Do you mind?!" I finally snapped at him, to which he merely raised an eyebrow.

"Mind what?" the tri-coloured disaster asked. I could just kill him.

"Letting go of my arm."

"That I do mind." Ooh, smug little bastard. Well, he did do me a favour and loosened his grip enough for me to pull away. On the other hand I think he only allowed it because we'd reached wherever he wanted to take me to. We were at the edge of the garden, the edge of the entire palace in fact, looking down on the capital.

"I'd like to take you through my city, today or tomorrow," the pharaoh said and turned to look at the view. "There is much of beauty to show." I didn't answer. Not even the slightest nod. The memories were so many. Climbing down the palace wall or sitting on a cliff, watching over the city and the pyramids. The Nile flowed by the very border of the town, glimmering in the early afternoon sun. The golden dunes reached as far as the eye could see. That's, I think, when it really hit me. I mean really, really became clear. I was home. My lair was somewhere, though not far, behind the dunes. I kept moving around constantly as not to get caught, but I never strayed too far from the towns and villages. I was born in this land. I grew up and lived and died here. The pharaoh's voice startled me from my musings and I'm ashamed to admit that the look I gave him was both awestruck and longing. And sad. Awestruck from the realization, longing because of all the memories, and sad… I don't know why I felt sad. Maybe, because I wasn't Bakhura the Thief King anymore. I was 'Kura. Simply 'Kura, nothing more. "Do you enjoy my land, Kura?"

"Yes," I murmured, turning back to the view. "I love this land."

"I believe this land will come to love you as well, young Kura."

I blinked and frowned at him. That was the corniest thing he'd said so far. Even considering that corny wasn't even invented in ancient Egypt. Not to mention that it was so not true. Egypt never loved me, and never will; otherwise it wouldn't have been such a bitch towards me. It wasn't until later that I realized that pharaohs generally are Egypt. So no matter what the pharaoh thinks, Kemet thinks the same. But that's jumping ahead of things.

"Whatever," I sighed and turned my back to the view. Enough of sentimental memories. I did all that remembering in the Millennium Ring already. For a lot of fucking centuries. Excuse me my swearing, but it hurts my pride to remember this incident. We'll come to that in a moment. I keep sidetracking. I guess I don't really want to remember it but, well.

I walked away from the sight and from the pharaoh. He may prefer my company over Shi-sha-shomon, but I preferred him as far from me as possible. I slowly came aware of a feeling of someone watching me. Actually, everyone there was watching me, but this was somehow different. Like someone from afar. But I pushed the thought to the side since there were many slaves and guards all over the garden. I stretched slightly and walked over to the nearest tree where I lay down under its shade and closed my eyes, shutting out the entire world. I was still aware of a presence approaching and then sitting down next to me.

"From our discussions earlier I understand your frustration with Pharaoh Atem," I heard Seth murmuring. I half opened one of my eyes to see him staring intently at me. Further behind him, said king was engaged in a conversation with Mahaado and what's-her-name-Mana. Though those unnaturally, purplish eyes kept glancing at our direction every now and then as if he didn't trust Seth with me. And he shouldn't, really. I turned my attention back to the high priest when he continued: "However, you mustn't anger him. It will be for the worse if he tires of you in irritation." I chuckled softly and closed my eye once more.

"So, are you saying I should just give in and let him have his way with my body?" The thought was ridiculous. Like I'd ever give in to that control freak. Yet I understood what Seth meant. If Atem got angry with me, I'd be in big trouble.

"No," Seth hissed. I wondered if he wasn't taking it a bit too seriously. "No. That is not what I meant. Simply, do your best not to anger him. Too much." I burst out laughing when he said that. And it wasn't even a maniacal laugh. I simply couldn't help it. And neither could I stop. Seth looked surprised but pleased to see me in such a position. Others shrugged or smiled at me, not sure what had gotten into me. Once I managed to calm down I stood up in one fluid motion and clapped Seth on his shoulder.

"You have a way with words," I complimented. I stepped out from the cover of the tree and still smiling, turned my face up towards the sun, the right eye of Ra. I heard Seth stand up behind me and the talking continued. Determined footsteps walked up to me and I tried not to take notice of the pharaoh's presence.

"It seems you and Seth have made good friends," he stated calmly. I shook my head.

"Not friends," I corrected. I didn't make friends. Not counting Malik. "Acquaintances, perhaps." The pharaoh nodded.

"Nonetheless, you have a very pleasant laugh, young Kura." The hell was his hand doing on my shoulder? "I am pleased to know that you like my land, and I am sure my hospitality has not been wasted?" I became a bit unsure of what he wanted to have said so I studied him from the corner of my eyes, trying to read him.

"I'm… thankful," I said, making it sound as meaningless as I could. I had the sinking suspicion that he might attempt to kiss me again. Hell if I would allow it.

"I am most pleased to hear that," his bastardness said. I didn't like the look in his eyes and a stupid idea about him being jealous of Seth flew through my head.

I moved to brush his hand off my shoulder and take some distance, ready to snap at him should he try something.

Now, there are certain things one learns about pharaohs. For example, they have no shame, because they never do anything wrong. And so, probably believing it to be his royal right, the pharaoh pulled me tight to his body, face to face, and… grabbed my… ass?

Before my better judgement could take over, the bastard's head flew backwards and he fell on his back, groaning between his hands that were holding his nose.

I punched Atem.

I. punched. the. pharaoh. of. Egypt.

The reaction was immediate. Guards ran out from wherever they'd been standing. I was violently grabbed and constrained. Spears and swords were pointed towards me. The high priests ran forward, surrounding the pharaoh and pointing rods and staffs and bare hands in my direction, spells ready to be said. And all I could think was: Oh shit. I am so fucked.

I kind of froze in panic and just stared at the ground by my feet, knowing I was in serious trouble. The pharaoh stood up, straightened and barked an order:

"Release him!"

…

What?

The guards backed off. The high priests glanced at Atem to see if he'd lost his mind. I know because I raised my head to do just that. The pharaoh spit out some blood that had leaked from his nose into mouth and turned to me, walking closer.

"You are shameless and wild, very unlike my subordinates. And I believe that is the interest I find in you," Atem said. The back of his hand hit my cheek and sent me falling on my side. The sheer force behind the blow made my head spin and tears of pain spring to my eyes. "However, if you ever dare raise a hand against me again, I shall see you in the cells." And that was that. The pharaoh turned away from me to discuss some thing or another with Shimon and I slowly got to my knees, holding my aching cheek. I guess I was kind of in shock. I'd been, what, told off? Like some misbehaving pet?

My senses needed something new to focus on at that moment; otherwise I'd never noticed the slight movement of red further away. Behind bushes and trees stood… me. I was looking at myself staring at me, completely expressionless. And then I left. The past I left. And I was pulled to my feet by Seth and guided back inside.

**TBC…**


	7. Chapter 7

**This is a sorry excuse for a chapter, but hopefully at least reaching halfway to my standards. With this chapter, and a few others, I hope to slowly start working on fanfiction again. And… if possible… the next chapter will be a bit better.**

**Ch VII**

I was led back to my room. Neither I nor Seth said a word, and I just knew the ride through the town that Atem had promised me would not happen. My worth here had been made clear. I soon realized that no guards accompanied us, and I wondered, if it was because Seth was with me, or because I was no loner worthy of protection? Seth did not speak and I was, admittedly, grateful for it. The tall (well, tall for an Egyptian at that time) man ordered a few servants to fetch food and drink, and a healer. As the high priest closed the door silently, keeping a non-saying eye on me, I sat down on the edge of the bed and stared out through the doorless balcony.

"…he hit me," I said. No emotion reached my voice. The shock of the situation had drained me off everything. "Do you think… he'll…" I wasn't sure of what to ask, really. Luckily Seth seemed to guess what I meant and walked over to me.

"He warned you, Kura. I do not think he'll harm you further unless provoked," he answered, clearly in an attempt to comfort me. And suddenly I was angry. The bastard of a rotten pharaoh dared hit me?! Who did he think he was? Never mind that, who did he think I was? The icy glare I directed towards Seth had the man taking a step back. I know perfectly well how intimidating I can be. After all, I've always been able to see it in my victims' eyes, both as the thief king, and as the spirit of the millennium ring.

"That… son of a… he thinks he can just do what he wants, huh?" I stood up and glowered darkly at Seth as if it was all his fault somehow. To the high priest's benefit I can say that this time he held his ground, though he looked at me as though I'd gone insane. Heck, maybe I had. A long fucking time ago. And even that was the pharaoh's fault!

"He is the king of Kemet, Kura," he said in an even voice. "You'd do well to remember that the next time you-" Seth interrupted himself as the doors opened and servants carrying wine, bread and fruits entered, closely followed by a man I supposed was a healer. Neither I nor Seth spoke as the man took a look at my bruised cheek and spread some "healing" salve over it. Seth sent the healer a dark look that clearly meant to say that the man was dismissed, and the healer bowed deeply and backed away. Before the doors closed, I took notice that the guards from earlier had been re-stationed outside of my room. A quick thought flitted through my brain: Were they there to keep an eye on me, or to protect me? Probably both…

"I'm not a prisoner but I'm damned well a sex slave without a will of my own," I muttered sarcastically and broke off a piece of the bread. Seth sighed and filled the two clay cups with wine. One he handed over to me, and the other he kept, slowly swirling the liquid around and around. For an ever so short moment I was reminded of Seto back in future Japan. Aside that Seto didn't drink wine, of course…

"Pharaoh Atem has taken interest in you, and it is very easy to understand why…" I gave him a sharp look at that; one which he pointedly ignored. "He is not a man to be denied what he wants. If he wants you as a…sex slave… then in his mind you are one, belonging to him. However…" I would have had a few well selected words to point out but Seth raised a hand as well as his voice ever so slightly to cut me off even before I had time to begin and so I stayed quiet. "I've noticed that the king does not simply order you to bed. He is… in lack of better words… attempting to court you."

I spluttered. Had I chosen the moment to drink I would have sprayed wine all over the floor, and Seth, and probably choked to top it off, but as it was… I spluttered.

I stood still for the longest time, a wine goblet in one hand and a piece of newly baked bread in the other, gaping like the fool I very clearly must have looked like. And then a small, ever so small, part of my mind gained some manner of control and I managed to whisper an embarrassingly weak:

"What?"

"Pharaoh Atem has, as to this point, attempted to court you," Seth clarified with some amusement. It was quite clear that he enjoyed the moment very much. Again I simply stood and gaped and as my mind seemed unwilling to work in its normal glory, I was reduced to simply ask:

"Why?"

At this something… remarkable? Unexpected? Shocking? Well something happened. Seth placed his own goblet on a golden tray and took the cup in my hand, as well as the bread, and placed them away as well. Then the high priest took my hands, which were still lifted as if I was holding something. Somehow the fact that they were now empty hadn't clicked in my brain yet. With a voice that sounded suspiciously like he was talking to a halfwit Seth began explaining.

"You are not something that can be found in Egypt." Well duh. "From your looks to your behaviour you defy the gods themselves. Is it so astonishing that you would be found alluring?" …alluring? "The pharaoh, as far as I can read him, has interest in you that falls beyond that of a mere whore. I am sure, if his interest continues that he would gladly see you as a… permanent lover." Slowly my brain was starting to catch up on things, and just in time to see some weird look flash in Seth's eyes, too. I snarled and pulled my hands away. A…a permanent what? No. way. in. hell.

"No," I stated flatly. "I'm not going to be part of his sick games. I'm not, ever, during my lifetime, going to agree to some fucked up, idiotic, mindless thing like that!" No way. Not while I live. I crossed my arms and glared. And Seth, either knowingly allowing it, or too surprised to hide it, smiled widely at my declaration. But he quickly collected himself and hid his smile with a small cough.

"Well, I wish you the gods' blessing in your attempts to discourage the king's interests," he said simply. I grabbed an entire tray of fruits, which also included my bread and wine, as well as Seth's, and placed it on the bed before sitting down next to it. Then I proceeded to empty first my own cup, and then Seth's quite rapidly. No way was I going to survive this with a sober head. Seth looked at me for a while with one raised eyebrow and then smirked, obviously guessing my intentions. He picked up the carafe filled with wine and moved it next to my bed.

"I will retire to my own chambers now," he informed me, a bit needlessly I think. He leaned forward and snatched a few grapes from the tray, his hand, accidently I'm sure, brushing against my bare arm. The high priest straightened and nodded his head ever so slightly in farewell before exiting the room. All of this I noted only in the back of my head since I was well down to drowning my third goblet.

The servants found me some time later standing on the balcony and watching the view as they came to clear away the trays. I quite calmly threatened them with the wrath of beings they could not even begin to phantom if they did not leave the carafe where it stood. In fact, I added before they could scurry off in fear, they could just as well bring a refill. I didn't even bother to look at them as they ran about doing their jobs and then escaped my room as quickly as possible. My finely honed thief's instincts alerted me some time later when a pitiful woman entered and exited the room without a word, bringing with her a new carafe of thick wine. Still I did not move, wondering what day it was. When had I, in my past, been stupid enough to brave the pharaoh's garden at day time? Somewhere out there in the dunes, or more probably the streets, I was walking, planning my next theft. And then I wondered what effect two Bakuras in the past might have on the future? Was all of this even real? Maybe it was some weird dream. Or maybe I was dead. I had been drowning after all, hadn't I?

After some time I walked back into the room and lied down on the bed, successfully passing out.

At first I wasn't sure of what woke me up. I felt groggy from the wine and the warm air. Then I recognised the warning that rang through my head. There was someone in the room. I stayed completely silent, pretending to be asleep as I focused on the presence. It could have been a servant, come to clear away the carafe, but they would not have lingered for so long. It could have been Seth, come to check on me, but he would have announced himself, as would any of the other high priests. No guard would have dared enter the room unless it was his Annoyancesness wish, and they would not have snuck about. It could not be the pharaoh himself. He was too high and mighty to sneak.

A dry had touched my bruised cheek gently and I fought the urge to jump from the bed and break the arm of whoever that hand belonged to. Rather, I focused on my "visitors" movements, trying to hear any weapon being drawn, or any tensing in muscles that would indicate an attack. And then the touch was gone and I heard silent footsteps moving about. There was a soft whisper that I didn't quite catch, but sounded suspiciously much like a short prayer. And then it came; the sudden rustle of clothing and straining of muscles that gave away the attack moments before it hit its mark.

I rolled off the bed and kicked my attacker in one knee. I noted quickly that it was a mere servant, dressed in a white cloth, barefoot, and wielding a sharp knife with lack of any talent. The servant was a man, short but strong, clearly meant for work outside the palace.

The man lost his balance with a pained cry and blindly slashed the knife in my direction. Having far more skills in combat than this poor man, I merely caught his wrist and smirked, wrenching the knife from him. Realizing his loss the servant struck out in pure terror. And though the punch was half hearted and barely aimed, I had to pull away as it came very close to my already bruised cheek. The man yanked himself free and pushed away from me, his strong arms effectively forcing me to the floor. I scrambled to my knees fully intent on following the man and finding out why he had tried to kill me, but before I could make it to my feet the servant reached the balcony, and then stopped dead. And dead he fell to the floor. I blinked once… twice… and then looked up from the dead body to a new presence that stepped out from the shadows, his silhouette outlined against the last rays of the setting sun.

My new visitor leaned down calmly to dislodge a white-handled knife from the servant's lower jaw, where it had been struck diagonally upwards in a way that was hauntingly familiar. Then he straightened, his blue eyes fixing upon me. Shamefully I admit that my mind went numb as I watched myself, Bakhura, the thief king, smirk.

**TBC…**


	8. Chapter 8

**Long time since I wrote. Let's see what I can get out.**** Once again written and posted without thought or rereading. Much of small errors in it, I'm sure.**

**Ch. VIII**

So I stood up and backed away. Why did I back away? Well… no one knows me better than myself, so I decided it was a good idea to back away. So there. And the me from the past followed. Okay… um… crap.

"Do you fear me, Gods' Child?" I asked myself. I mean the past me asked. Let's just say he, okay? He asked me. And the name he used? Yeah it caught me completely off guard. Enough so that I just stopped and stared at me… I mean him. Seriously: Gods' Child? Was that what the people of Egypt saw me as? Well, what can I say? Wow. "The king brags about his finding. The child of Isis born in the Great Nile and protected by Sobek himself." The past me chuckled.

Now, this was one of the funniest feelings I'd gotten throughout my very long life. My finely shaped instincts told me to stab the guy who was still walking towards me and make a run for it, but my brain just told me that there's no way I could get away with stabbing my past self. That would be pretty stupid. Yeah, so I've done a lot of stupid things in my life but this didn't seem like something even I wanted to get into. Yes, I said even I. I get into a heck of a lot of more things than the Ishtar psycho twins. That might be because I'm a daredevil. And they like to throw dares at me.

"What's the matter, Child of Isis? You're not scared of a lowly mortal, are you?" Scared? Oh right. Backing away and absentmindedly holding a sharp little knife in front of you can be interpret as being scared. But I had to admit, my past self did know how to make shivers run down someone's spine.

"I'm not a God or the kid of one," I told him. "The pharaoh's just being an idiot." Bakhura, that would be the past me, raised an eyebrow and considered my words for a moment.

"Is that so," he wondered, kind of drawling out the question as if he didn't really believe me, or was thinking about something else entirely. "I guess it would make some sense. Atem spreads the stories about you, and when he finally beds you, his importance in the eyes of his people will rise considerably." Oh so that's what it was all about. Stupid me for not figuring it out sooner. I narrowed my eyes and growled.

"That… son of a bitch! Like hell he's getting anything from me. I'll be castrating him before letting him touch me." Why was it that every time I cursed the pharaoh, the people listening started laughing?

But, damn, I had a good laugh back then. I glanced around the room and shrugged.

"So, are you going to steal anything? There's lots of stuff I don't need on that table, and… somewhere on those chairs should be pretty expensive looking clothes." I stared at my self… I mean he stared at me, smirking. I sighed and threw the knife I'd taken from the assassination attempt on the floor. It clattered loudly in the large room, making both of us wince. "Look, I know who you are, and I don't want to fight you. I have enough trouble trying to figure out who'd want to kill me." Bakhura shrugged too and put his knife away.

"Easy. It's someone who thinks you'd be a threat, or a bad influence to the king," he answered. I sat down on the bed and watched as my past self began walking around the room, occasionally snatching some golden object with him. He went back to the balcony and picked up a bag, stuffing the items in it before coming back and kneeling down on the bed next to me.

"Hey, not that I mind the good company and all, but don't you have a time limit or somth-AGH!"

I blinked. Heck if I was prepared to find myself lying on the bed with my past self sitting on top of me. And… and when the hell did he get my hands tied up?! I let out a long, long string of curses the moment I realized what was happening, which was a fraction of a second after the shock gave way enough for me to realize my hands were being tied up against one wooden corner of the bed.

"The hell do you think you're doing?! Get off!" And then I found a tanned hand against my mouth.

"Quiet now, Gods' Child," my past self whispered. "You'll wake the entire palace with your screaming." Since I'm the type who normally likes to have the upper hand, I of course started struggling as well as I could with someone sitting on me. But even I have to calm down and rethink the situation when I felt the white-handled knife against my throat. "I'm not going to hurt you unless I have to… but I will leave the king a message." Oh boy, that didn't sound good.

Right, Bakura, think. What would you have done in your past life to leave as a message to the pharaoh, if you'd found a half-god in the palace? I would have… probably not killed the half-god. But then what? One of the ideas that came to me felt a bit disturbing, considering that I was the half-god in question as well as the guy leaving a message. I stared up at Bakhura and realized he was considering his options of what to do, just as I was. What to do… what to do… what would have been a proper message for the pharaoh? The thought that slowly came to me almost made me whimper. And, assuming it was the same thought that came to my past self, it made him smile a very cruel and equally frightening smile. The knife left my throat. It cut off a thick patch of hair, making the violation visible. I did my best not to flinch as the knife dragged a long bloodied line along my chest and then down each of my arms. If the pharaoh considered me his property, he would not stand for any other, especially a lowly thief, touching me.

"Do you know how to scream, my beauty?" Bakhura asked and carefully carved a word over the soft flesh of the right side of my chest. I nodded, biting back all sound. The thief king looked at his finished work for a moment and licked the knife clean. Then he removed his hand from my mouth and grabbed the hair he'd cut off. "Then scream, beautiful. Call upon the guards and let them see you. Before you bleed out too much." My past self didn't wait to see what would happen. He pressed, much to my surprise and discomfort, a kiss on my lips and fled out through the balcony. It took a while for me to gather my thoughts and I lifted my head to look at the carving. Sadly it was impossible for me to see it properly from my position. Someone shouted outside. My past self had been seen. Or more probably, he'd let the guards see him. Ah well, might as well join the game. Not like I had much of a choice here anyway. I took a deep breath and shouted for the guards at the top of my lungs.

Let's say I wasn't expecting to be whisked off quite like that. The moment the guards saw me I was untied and carried, yes carried, away. They didn't even let me walk on my own. I wasn't happy about it, the high priests weren't happy about someone braking into my room, and the pharaoh was pretty much fuming about everything. Though it was nothing compared to when Mana cleaned up my wounds and we all got a good look at the hieroglyphs. A jabiru bird, an arm holding a whip and a sun. Ba, khu and ra. And all of that was nicely cased in a tablet, proudly proclaiming: "King Bakhura." It was all so absurd I could have started laughing then and there. But I had to remind myself that I was supposed to be a victim. Victims shouldn't laugh. Atem seemed to pale, and then went a weirdly nice shade of tanned skin and a flush. Did I just say..? I meant the idiotness, okay? Not Atem, the idiotness. Right, moving on.

Mana quickly cleaned and tied my arms and chest in long white strips of cloth. The pharaoh's voice sounded a bit strained when he finally decided to speak:

"Leave. All of you. I wish to speak with Kura alone." Slowly, one by one, the high priests, the priest in training, the servants, and the guards left the room. I sat on a very nicely decorated chair and looked at the pharaoh, feeling a bit unsure. Atem stared at me too for a while and then nearly threw himself towards me. I fought an instinct to dodge and run and found myself held tightly against the bastard.

"Uhh… Atem?" I asked carefully, somewhat muffled with my face against his chest. I felt the pharaoh press his face against the top of my head.

"I apologise Kura. I should have held a better eye on you," he answered and nuzzled my hair. Nuzzled of all things! "I did not think anyone would dare be so bold and touch you in such a way. They shall be punished I swear." I blinked. Wasn't this the same bastard who backhanded me a few hours earlier? "And now you bear the name of that fiend! My dear Kura…" And I blinked again. Riiight…

"Hey… it's… not that bad?" I tried and patted his… I think it was his hip. Not many places I could manage to pat from my position. The pharaoh loosened his grip on me and grabbed my head instead, forcing me to look up.

"How can you say such a thing? A peasant, a lowly robber of all, daring to cause a deity blessed by the gods to bleed?" As the pharaoh babbled on I had to wonder; was this what his cheerleader gang went through every time something happened? I mean, he was laying it on kind of thick here. With all the 'oh how could this happen' and 'it is terrible' and so on and so forth. So I grabbed his hands and pulled my head free.

"I'm fine, for the love of Ra! It's just a couple of wounds, you know." The pharaoh blinked and then smiled at me. I let go of his hands.

"So free of spirit… Wild as the great cats and untamed as the nature," he murmured and eyed me. I shifted uncomfortably in the chair and looked around the room. "Nothing can chain you, can it?"

"Not really," I admitted. "I don't like being controlled." And with those words, one of the most remarkable sights ever happened. The pharaoh, the high and mighty, kneeled in front of me and kissed my hands. Both of them.

"Then know, young Kura, that, within reason, your freedom is unlimited her in the black land. And should I scold, or should I hold you back and deny your freedom, it will be done by no other reason than my love for you, and my devotion for your safety," he all but vowed. The pharaoh stood and walked away, and I sat and gaped still long after he had left the room.

I blinked and looked up at Seth when the high priest placed himself to stand in front of me. I pointed weakly towards where the pharaoh had gone and asked:

"He was kidding, right? Or some kind of… king's sense of things that's completely different from what he actually said? Or something? Right..?" Seth crooked an eyebrow and leaned closed so that none other in the room would hear.

"What did he tell you to upset you so?" I lowered my voice into a hiss that told exactly what I thought of the revelation. And truthfully there weren't many good thoughts involved. Well, none at all, actually.

"He said he loves me!" Seth stared at me. And I stared at Seth. And we stared at each other. Then Seth offered a hand to help me stand and though I didn't accept the help I did stand up.

"Let me walk you back to your room, young Kura," Seth said. He seemed a bit… off. I nodded and followed him into the hallways. Seth was silent for a long time and I felt very uncomfortable about it. And when he finally talked, he didn't sound all too pleased. "The king proclaimed his love… none of us actually expected such a thing." The old geezer would probably have a heart attack upon hearing this. "I was hoping…" Seth's voice travelled off and I frowned at him.

"Hoping what," I asked none too politely. I don't think I even really wanted to know.

"It does not matter," the high priest replied. Sure it didn't… what a liar. "But… I must say that our king has a good taste of whom to bestow his attentions." I rubbed my forehead and rolled my eyes.

"Seth, if you're going to say that you're in love with me too, then just fucking get on with it and say it."

It was actually meant as a sarcastic half insult but… Seth kept quiet and looked away. I gaped. Ah, hell no! Outside of my room Seth bowed hastily and excused himself. I watched as the high priest nearly fled down the corridor.

Well. Crap. And all the crapiness included. Crap crapily-doo.

**TBC…**


	9. Chapter 9

**Here we go again,**** a chapter filled with randomness for whoever is still out there and willing to enjoy. And remember, the review button is your friend. **

**Ch. IX**

Let's rewind, shall we? I'm in ancient Egypt. I'm believed to be the son of Isis, protected by Sobek. I punched the pharaoh. I got punched by the pharaoh. I was sexually harassed by myself. I got a love confession from said pharaoh that previously punched me. Did I forget anything? Oh, right… I might have a high priest lusting after me too. How… fun.

Well I think we can safely say my life's gotten pretty fucked up. And I mean the "Welcome to the Laa-laa-house, please take a seat on the pancakes and have a freshly baked mushroom" –kind of fucked up. Sure it was fucked up before, but not this bad. I mean… I got freaking sexually harassed by myself! And even I know how laughably insane that sounds!

Loony-town, here I come.

So, there I stood. On the balcony. Trying to make sense of the senseless. Watching the desert. Ignoring the servants. Still trying to make sense of things. Giving up. Yeah, I gave up. There was just no way I could handle that much at one time. I guess I could sort of understand my past self getting all touchy-cutty on me. It was me we're talking about here, after all. I ran my hand over the carving on my bandaged chest. For some reason today's clothing-present consisted of a tunic. Hmm, wonder why.

And jewellery. Lots of it. Armbands and necklaces and a few rings. The thought would have been nice, I suppose, if I wasn't so painfully aware of why the pharaoh kept sending me these trinkets. Besides, if my past self ever decides of a second visit he'll just have more crap to steal. Not that I minded. That was the only good thing, actually.

Anyway, it was there on the balcony where I tried to ignore the servants and guards all the rest when the bastardness finally walked up to me and… insert a disgusted shudder here… hugged me. He actually had the nerve to rest his head against my shoulder! The… the… the nerve! He's damned lucky I didn't decide to rip a new hole in his face for it.

Naah, I'm not that stupid. So I tried to pull away but damned highness had a bit of muscle back then and he just didn't let go. I think I actually growled, though I also think it went ignored.

"My dear Kura," the idioticy began in some wistful tone. "I've been considering that perhaps it is of time that you accompanied me on a ride." Now that caught my interest. I turned my head and gave him a long, curious look. In response, he hugged me tighter and smiled. "I wish to show you my beautiful land, if you would accompany me in my wagon."

Took me a moment to think about it, really. Plus side, I'd get to go outside of the palace and see old places. Minus side, I'd have to stand next to royal ass over there.

But… I really wanted to go. So I nodded and tried not to see his smug greatness of victory.

"I am pleased, Kura," he told me. And I was supposed to care? Self-centred jerk. Uh, was it just me or was he tightening his grip again? Aw hell. He was tightening his grip on me!

"Alright, would you let go of me now? Please? Making me a bit uncomfortable here," I told him and tried to pry his arms off. I seriously tried. About the time it started to look like I'd have to resort to another punch at his holiness I think I began to panic a bit. I mean I didn't want to know what he'd do if I dared hit him again. And then he suddenly let go and, to be honest, surprisingly gently turned my head to face him.

"Will it be too much for me to request for one kiss?"

He did not just say that. My eyes widened and I pulled away quickly, and this time successfully.

"It's way too much to 'request,'" I snarled at the bastard and walked back inside. Though, for his credit, at least he had the decency to ask this time.

I slumped down on the pillows on the floor and poured myself a goblet of wine, deliberately ignoring the pharaoh. I wasn't his damned servant; he could damned well pour his own drink. Atem walked in after a while and sat down close to me.

"So, when are we going to go off on this little ride," I asked. I was curious after all. Today? Tomorrow? In an hour or immediately? Those are things you're supposed to know, you know? The pharaoh stared at me for a while, obviously not so pleased anymore.

"Once midday has passed, dear Kura. I fear Ra's eye might harm the skin Isis blessed you with," he said after a moment's silence. And he actually had a point. Looking down at my pale complexion I realized that some hours in the sun would probably have me burned to a crisp. Not that I'd admit it to him.

I took a sip of the wine and glanced at the pharaoh before proceeding to appear like I was ignoring him. It wasn't like I could really, really ignore him here. Who knows what he might have thought of if I hadn't been on my guard? The pharaoh raised an eyebrow at me, then narrowed his eyes before finally sighing.

"I want you to join us for dinner," he stated, once again just expecting to be obeyed. Not that I really had any plans or anything, but it would have been nice of him to have been a bit more polite or something. So I shrugged in a way that I hoped said "I couldn't care less" and drank a bit more. "I shall see you then." I shrugged again.

Movement had me send a sideways glare that did no good as Mr. King leaned forward, grabbed my chin and pressed his lips against mine. He didn't try to stick his tongue down my throat this time, which meant he'd learned something. Didn't make the experience any more pleasant, though.

Then, in a swish and ruffle of royal garb, the pharaoh stood up and walked to the door.

And I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

"I try to be considerate of your wild nature in these circumstances, my untamed love," he told me. My face would have probably looked pretty funny, being stuck between surprise and suspicion and confusion, but luckily Atem didn't look back. "But keep in mind, young Kura, that you are beautiful. I cannot promise that I will be able to keep distance for much longer." And then he just walked out of the room all royal and stuff.

Keep distance? The hell did he mean with that?

Keep… distance…

Unless… Oh no. No no no no. Hell no.

I had the most irresistible urge to get drunk. Really I had. But I didn't. You know why? Because a drunk Bakura is a Bakura that doesn't know what he's doing. That's why.

So I was still pretty sober when a high priest showed up at my door to "escort" me. And to my endless surprise, it wasn't Seth.

Mr. Pokemon gave me a rude, cold, angry, merciless, I-wanna-kill-you stare.

"The dinner is being served." Oh really? I could never have guessed. "I am here to accompany you." Dude, I could never have guessed. "Shall we?" He pointed for me to start walking and I gave him the cockiest smirk I could manage. And that was damned cocky, I tell you.

Of course I could have asked him what had happened to Seth. Not that I really cared, but I was a tiny bit curious. Or I could have pointed out something about the attack last night and lack of good guards. But instead, what I did was grin at him, wink and say as low as I could with him still able to hear:

"Bet it's killing you to have the king chasing after worthless ol' me, isn't it you pervert." Mr. Pokemon choked. Heh heh… Bull's-eye. "Really, don't you think you're a bit old for him?"

"How dare you?! I am a respected advisor to our King and I will not have the likes of you insulting me!" Ooh, must have hit a nerve there. All I did was grin wider and lengthen my steps so I got some distance from him. I wasn't going to try my luck, but being an asshole felt good.

Heck, I think I shocked a few people when I casually sauntered into the dining room, huge smile plastered on my face and a fuming Shi-sha-shomon walking behind me. With the grace that comes from years of sneaking and avoiding traps I sat down on the chair by the pharaoh and leaned back comfortably.

I wasn't blind or oblivious enough to miss the way others eyed me. Some bolder servants, guards, the pharaoh, Seth and even that kid Mana gave me a… appreciating look, so to say. But I bravely bore it with my head high knowing that Mr. Pokemon was having a way worse day than I.

**TBC…**


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay then. ****Thanks to everyone who reviewed; I'm a glutton for praise. Make's me more inspired to continue too. There was a question about the long time between updates, and yeah, there was actually about two years before I started writing again. Funny thing though, the more I write this, the more I start liking 'Home is where the Heart is' better than my other fics. Weird huh?**

**Ch. X**

Freedom. That's what it felt like. I still couldn't believe the Pharaoh had given me the reins of his carriage. I was more used to riding than driving, but once I got the basics of it I did pretty darn good. And I am a damned fast learner. Comes as a requirement with being a thief.

I was actually laughing by the time we left the city and got to open… erm… sands. By then I was free to "giddiup" the horsie as much as I wanted, as long as the carriage didn't break or the horse get injured. And a whole parade of palace guards were riding behind us, along with two other carriages carrying Akunadin and Mahaado. And the Mana-kid because she just wanted to tag along, or something.

Atem reached from behind me to place a hand on mine and muttered in my ear. I'd honestly almost forgotten he was there.

"Slow down, Kura... The horse needs to be able to take us back to the palace still."

Well, I glanced over my shoulder and pulled myself free from his grasp, but did as he told me to anyway. I mean, he had a point, right? So I slowed the horsie down to a comfortable trot.

Now you're probably a bit lost here, being the wonderful suckers who actually have nothing better to do than read this crap, so I'll tell you what's been going on:

After food, the servants whisked me away and dressed me up in all sorts of cloths. Honestly I was a bit pissed at first, seeing as most of the stuff I got to wear seemed meant for a woman. And I'm talking veils and more veils clipped together with golden pins and necklaces and shit. Not literally shit, of course. Like figurative shit. Golden shit… Trinkets… You know?

But I had to admit I understood the reason for all the feminine covering. Best way to protect me from the Egyptian sun, you see. Plus, under their partially see-through texture, there was no doubt I was a man. A skinny, pale man, but a man nonetheless.

And when I was all dressed and everyone was done ogling and drooling, we were off. I got to share carriage with his pharaohneslyness, oh joy, and of course he decided to drive the damned thing. Then somewhere halfway when I was kind of excited about seeing the city for the first time in so many centuries he oh-so-casually asked if I wanted to learn. Hell yeah.

And that's what got us to this point. Simple, eh?

Anyway, returning to the story, I was feeling pretty good about everything right then. And the stuff I didn't feel so good about was easy to ignore. Up until now. I have to say, it's hard to ignore someone who's pressing up against your back trying to take the reins from you. I did the only thing sensible to do: I practically showed them in his hands and tried to manoeuvre out of his way.

"Just get off me already!" I practically shouted as I tried to pull away. The assholyness was pretty quick, and by looks slightly panicked too, when he grabbed the reins in one hand. The other… guess where it went? Smacks for those who guessed right. It went right around my waist and stayed there. Course at this point I was partly, just a little bit, thankful, since I almost fell of the carriage. Not that I'll ever admit it though, except for you, you wonderful suckers. There. Now go on and feel special about yourselves or whatever.

You learn something new every day. For instance, I just learned not to do weird manoeuvrings on a moving piece of polished wood pulled by a horse.

When I managed to steady myself and grab on to the carriage I just hissed:

"Alright, let go already." And the Pharaoh actually had the nerve to glare at me.

"No." I blinked. Wasn't really expecting that answer. And the way he said it just pissed me off. Like no room to argue. Like I was his servant or slave or something.

"I said…" I began to repeat myself, lowering my voice to a menacing growl that I've perfected over the centuries. "Let go." His assholyness just glared at me again and somehow, Ra knows how, managed to turn the horse back towards the palace. Obviously we were going back now.

"Does your wild nature often place you in danger," the Pharaoh asked. He sounded both uncaring and curious at the same time.

"Actually, yeah, it does," was my answer. I decided to be a smartass, just because I could. And because he didn't let me go. And because the ride apparently was over. Whichever. We rode in complete silence for a while before Mr. Righteous and Holy opened his mouth again.

"I have… treated you well, have I not," he wondered. I had to snort at this.

"Didn't we already talk about this at some point?" I shot back. And I think that conversation ended with a punch in his face. Hah! I could both hear and feel Atem sigh.

"And yet we never seemed to reach any conclusion," the Pharaoh answered somewhat sourly. At least I think it was sourly. Hard to say, now that I think of it.

"Correction, we never reached the conclusion you wanted," I snapped and turned, best I could, to give him the glare of I'm-gonna-kill-you-slowly. It usually works on the people I deal with. But why it only made his bastardness smirk I just can't figure out. And they say I'm insane. What a joke.

"You intoxicate me, Son of Isis," Atem told me as a matter of fact-ly. "But I've yet to reach a decision of how to proceed with you." I kind of wanted to just interrupt him and say 'Well don't proceed at all then,' but decided it wasn't worth the trouble. And I was curious about what he'd planned for me. "Therefore, I'd like to invite you to my chambers once evening falls. Simply to talk in private."

Talk… that had better be all he was planning to do. So maybe a few more rumours would fly off with me entering the Pharaoh's rooms, but it's not like people weren't talking already.

For a while I considered asking the Pharaoh about that servant-assassin from earlier. I mean, the idiot told me this country would learn to love me, but someone trying to stab me in my sleep didn't seem very much like Egypt showing its love. In the end I decided not to, though. It would have led to a whole lot of explaining about past me being there to conveniently kill the wannabe assassin that I really didn't feel like going through.

Which actually, and gradually, led me to the question; how did my past self manage to make such a perfect, dramatic entrance? Sure I always had a thing for dramatic entrances, but me being me and knowing how I work and how things work, it's damned hard to manage those things!

And suddenly I was completely freaked out.

Did I know about the wannabe killer?

I mean… did my past me know? And if so, how the hell did I know about it? I mean he… past me…

"Kura," the royal pain called. "Are you listening to me?" Was it just me or did he sound just a little bit pissed? Aw, man, he did sound pissed. I'm sure of it, I swear! Like he thought I was ignoring him or something.

…actually I was.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," I said in answer. I did have a clue of what he'd been talking about, but I just wanted to annoy him. That's what I do. I'm an annoying bastard. So hah! The Pharaoh muttered something I didn't quite catch and tightened his grip on me. I stared at him from the corner of my eye, trying to figure out what he was thinking.

You see, depending on how irritated he was with me, I could either try to break free from his half-hug or grit my teeth and bear it. Still not wanting to end up in prison here, remember?

"You're not gonna punch me again, are you," I asked when studying him didn't get me anywhere. The pharaoh actually dared to blink as if he'd just woken up and look at me with confusion. Then he frowned and I felt a nearly irresistible urge to pull away to safety. But, still standing on that piece of polished wood pulled by a horsie, I just stood there and watched as emotions flitted over the kingly-ish face.

Purple eyes looked down at my cheek where he'd backhanded me earlier. The frown turned softer. Something close to a smile. Then the eyes dipped downward quickly before returning to my face.

"I'd rather not," he finally said. "Not after what that lowly peasant did. Therefore I ask you not to force my hand."

I just had to raise one eyebrow to show my scepticism for what he'd just said. I mean, come on! Force his hand? Yeah right. Like it was my fault he was a spoiled dumbass. And just to show exactly how much I disagreed with his statement, I sent him a few harsh, Egyptian curse words and turned my head away, deciding to ignore him completely for the rest of the ride.

And if possible; get rid of the fingers that began running small circles over my stomach.

**TBC…**


	11. Chapter 11

…**woah. My e-mail was filled with reviews one day****. I was both pleasantly surprised and laughing while I read through them, and then decided that I should continue writing. **

**So****, all you people, bow to Calm Envy; this chapter is for you, dear. **

**Although I didn't ever actually think of Shimon as a villain, more like the proper, traditional advisor that fears for what influence a peasant might have on the pharaoh. Well, that was my original thought. But I won't complain over however people see him.**

**And I need to get the profanity filter off… I forgot I had such a thing…**** And on a side note, I personally don't like this chapter. But reviews are still very welcomed and encouraged. **

**Ch. XI**

Talk. He said talk. So it had better be just talking. And you know what? I didn't trust that bastard. Never did, never will.

Once safely back in my room, with the guards standing outside the door again, I ditched all the veils and most of the jewellery. So when the servants came to walk me to the royal ass' private rooms, I was standing in front of the mirror dressed in that long, white tunic-dress-hybrid-thing and a royal-blue sash, muttering about how it threatened my masculinity.

…well it did!

…stupid dress. If it weren't for the extra cover it gave my body, I would have taken a knife to it. You see, I could have switched to one of the nice tunics in my room, but I decided that I wanted to be as covered as possible for this "talk" with the pharaoh. It did hinder my steps a little, but I checked the seams and they looked like I could be able to rip them if I needed the extra movement.

Just hoping for two things here. One, I won't have to start ripping up clothes to fight or escape. And two, if I needed to rip them, hopefully the damned dress wouldn't rip too much.

"I hear our king has asked you to enter his chambers," a very familiar voice said. I blinked in surprise and turned to look at Seth.

"Couldn't keep away after hearing something like that, eh?" I teased. Seth actually looked embarrassed for a moment before regaining his control. I swear; if he were the kind of guy, he would have blushed. Or at least that's what it looked like to me.

Seth waved for the servants to wait outside before he continued. How interesting. So the high priest had something to say that he didn't want anyone to overhear and, Ra forbid, spread out as a rumour.

"And… you have agreed?" he asked with a tone of bitterness. I stared at him for a moment. A long moment. And then I just burst out laughing. It wasn't some happy laugh, or a desperate laugh, or even an insane laugh. I just couldn't help myself. If I had to give it a name, I'd say it was a humourless laugh.

"Dude, what am I supposed to do," I exclaimed with a big, none-too-happy grin. "Tell the fucking King of the Kemet that I'd rather be buried alive with scorpions that join him in his room? Or maybe say, 'if you touch me, you perverted freak, I'll cut off everything that makes you a man'?" I chuckled. Yeah, that'd go great, I bet. "Anyway, I'm kind of hoping he'll keep to his word and just talk."

There was a moment of silence during which Seth gave me a look that said exactly what he though about the possibilities of that happening. But after that weird quiet minute or so, he shook his head.

"I believe I understand your meaning," the brunette muttered. I tried to read his expression, but if you suckers though Seto was good at hiding his thoughts, let me tell you; he's nothing compared to Seth. Funny, with them being the same person and all… Never thought about that before. Weird…

Anyway, Seth kind of leaned closer as if he was going to say something very secret, which was also weird because we were the only two in the room.

"If… you need anything once King Atem allows you to leave, simply send a servant for me," he told me in this low, sort of… thick voice. Like he was having trouble saying it, or thought he'd have his head cut off if anyone ever found out. Though, now that I think of it, it's a possibility. "I'll see what I can do for you. Good luck, young Kura."

The thing that really added to my worries was the "good luck" part. It sounded like he wasn't expecting to ever see me again. Sadly I didn't have time to question him about it since he apparently decided now was a good time to make some hasty excuse and flee the room. So I was just left standing there all nervous and confused and thoroughly freaked out.

"Are you well," one of the servants enquired curiously. I gave him my most evil glare, which I'm happy to say made them all cower in fear, and snapped:

"Let's just get this over with."

So I was marched down the hall with servants fussing around me for Ra knows what reason. I saw Mahaado and Mana along the way and the priest gave me this really unreadable look while that annoying little brat just blushed and looked away. What was her problem anyway? Aside from me being a piece of hot ass in Egypt.

Heh heh...

On with the story, and skipping the useless stuff, Shi-Sha-Shomon was standing outside of the door that obviously led to the bastardness' private rooms, giving me a look that told me things didn't go at all like he wanted them to. Well, here's a news flash, old fart: things weren't going like I wanted either!

Still, just to annoy him, I flashed him a really nasty smirk. Let him think whatever he wanted, I didn't care. Never will.

Hmm… lots of things I'm never going to do.

I should make a list.

So, continuing. A little detail that struck me as odd: the servants opened the door for me, but didn't enter. Not that there weren't people running around on the other side of the doors. But… yeah…

"Young Kura," the assholyness greeted. "I am glad you finally arrived. Please, this way. I have requested for a slight supper to be brought to us."

Yeah right, "slight" he said. The table was literally overflowing with food. So, maybe he did it to impress me or, as Seth said, woo me (shudder), but all it did was remind me of a time when I barely had enough to live on. And it pissed me off.

"Just get to the point," I grumbled. "You wanted to talk." He didn't answer, just sat down at the end of the table and motioned towards the chair by his left. Muttering under my breath, I did as I was told.

"I have no will to force you to share my bed, nor will I force myself into yours," the pharaoh said before stuffing some meat I wasn't sure what it was into his mouth. I did eat too, just not as enthusiastically. The whole being nervous thing kind of took away my appetite. "However…"

A few seconds ticked by.

"However… what?" What was with the dramatic pause? Seriously. Atem took a drink of wine, wiped his mouth and hands, and just took his Ra damned time! Then he waved his hand and every servant and guard left the room.

Which, by the way, made me feel even more freaked out than I already was.

"However, I wish for something in return of my generosity and patience," he finally finished the sentence. I just gaped at him. Then a stupid little "what" escaped my brain and came out through my mouth. "I will not ask for much, simply that you will cease to push me away."

"The hell's that supposed to mean?" I snapped. For a while the pharaoh looked somewhat between amusement and exasperation. Then he stood up and moved towards me. I stood up as well, so I could keep my chair between us.

"This, is what I mean, Kura," he said in that annoyingly better-than-thou way of his and motioned vaguely between us. "You will no longer pull away, nor push me away, and I shall not force my advances. I could order you at the threat of execution, yet I wish for you to come to me freely. Perhaps, if you allow me the possibility to prove how kind and gentle I can be, you will no longer feel the need to flee from me."

I think I was doing a really good fish-face-imitation. All my blood must have rushed away from my face because all of a sudden I felt really weak and dizzy. Not a feeling I've ever liked. To tell you the truth, it very much sucks. And Atem wasn't even finished with his little talk yet.

"To tame a wild beast such as you, perhaps I must show you that you will be well cared for… I will fill your every hearts desire." One tanned hand reached out to touch my face and slide down to my neck and I'm ashamed to say that at that moment I was too Ra damned terrified to move away or snap at him. You just can't do that when the Pharaoh of Egypt is threatening you. Or, well, you can. But it's pretty stupid. And that was exactly what he was doing. He was threatening me, telling me that if I was a good boy he'd be nice and cosy but if I did something he didn't like, it'd be bye-bye for me.

"Simply give me a slight taste of my dreams, and you shall not be mistreated." Atem's free hand moved the chair out of the way and I almost subconsciously prepared to fight or flee. Or both. "You have my word. There is nothing to fear."

That sick, perverted, underhanded bastard of a pharaoh moved slowly, like he was afraid of scaring me away. Well, a bit too late for that. And I just stood there like some pathetic rabbit in the face of a big freaking truck. And then, all I could think of was to swallow and close my eyes and wish myself as far away from there as I could. Returning to Egypt really wasn't worth all this.

"Does my touch repulse you this much?" the bastard asked.

"I hate you," was my witty answer. And can you guess what he said to that? No? He said:

"You will learn to love me."

I just wanted to throw up. It was like some rip-off of a really bad movie.

"Only in your dreams, you fu-"

And that's as far as I got in my reply. Why? Because apparently he decided he'd had enough waiting and pressed his lips against mine. The hand at my neck tangled in my hair while his other arm encircled my waist and pulled me against him.

I didn't fight this time, just stood there and swallowed my pride and thought about what a liar the pharaoh was.

At that moment, I wished my past self would have simply killed me when he had the chance.

**TBC…**


	12. Chapter 12

**...Calm Envy, I love you. ****I don't care whether you're man or woman; you are my soul-mate. It's a pity I don't believe in marriage, or I'd definitely propose.**

**I was also shocked to hear that I have a sort-of fan. I like the word fan when it's directed towards my work. It gives me a fuzzy, tingly feeling of pride. **

**Ch. XII**

I found myself standing on the roof-top garden some hours later. I didn't feel like going back to my room, and I didn't want to talk, or even meet any of the high priests. Of course, whenever I want to be left alone, someone decides to ruin my plan. Every freaking time! What, do people have some sort of beeper that goes off whenever I'm sulking somewhere?

Well, I heard, and funnily enough even recognized the careful steps that came towards me. You know; the kind of steps that you hear only because whoever's coming wants you to hear them. That's how I knew who it was.

"Why such a face, Sa-Iset? Was the meeting with the king not to your liking?"

"I just don't respond all too well to ultimatums," I replied, sparing only a quick glance behind me to see that the guard had been knocked out. Sheesh… I was really talented back in the days, wasn't I? I hadn't even notice the attack on the guard.

Now, let's just skip the irony of having this conversation with myself, okay? And while we're at it, let's ignore that I was still wearing that stupid dress.

"It seems we have something in common, then," past-me said. I made a half-laugh snort and with a smile towards Bakhura I was stupid enough to open my mouth.

"We've got more in common than you think," was the thing I said. Clearly, my brains continued their vacation somewhere, because I turned my eyes back towards the view and completely missed past-me's expression. If I'd seen it, it would have clued me on what he was thinking then.

"Is that so," Bakhura wondered and I swear I could hear the smirk in his voice. I don't mean to sound narcissistic here, but damned that was a good, sultry voice. The kind that sends shivers down your spine and… well… stuff.

Aw, hell. Who am I kidding? I'm a narcissistic bastard and proud of it.

Anyway, my brain kicked back into action about then and I realized how damned wrong my statement sounded. He probably thought I was hitting on him. I actually prepared to say something to defend myself, but thinking about last time I opened my mouth, I settled for a few incoherent mumbles instead. This in turn made Bakhura lean forward to look at me and I could clearly see him raise an eyebrow in amusement.

"Could you repeat that, Sa-Iset?" he asked, still smirking and still using that Ra damned sultry voice I didn't even remember being capable of. I felt a slight wave of heat that had nothing to do with the weather wash over my face, and hoped to whatever gods that I wasn't blushing. Well, visibly, I mean. 'Cause I most probably was blushing on some level.

And it was embarrassment, you freaks! Nothing to do with the voice! Nothing at all!

"Stop calling me that," I snapped and sourly crossed my arms over my chest. "I'm not the son of a god. I already told you that." You know, it's a really freaky feeling when a guy who's actually you but doesn't know it gives you that 'look' that slowly travels over your entire body like he was memorizing it. I actually had a hard time to keep myself from fidgeting.

"You could have me fooled… just as you've fooled all of the Black Land," Bakhura then told me. "As the people would worship you, and the king would own you, I wish to taint you, child of the gods." I blinked and turned completely to stare at him. Did he think I was some kind of angel here? What has that bastard of a pharaoh been telling his people?

"You're kidding me, right?"

As I spoke, I tilted my head and made a face that I hoped clearly expressed my thoughts of the matter. My past self seemed taken aback and after a short moment of silence I found out why.

"I am not certain what those words mean, but I assume the answer is no," he said, a slight edge of uncertainty creeping into his voice. I, on the other hand, wondered if I should have just shut up at that point, but since it was me I was talking with, I felt a tiny bit obligated to enlighten him.

"I mean: you're joking, aren't you," I explained. "About what you said." And I actually saw understanding dawn in my own eyes before the skilled thief that I was, and still am, hid everything that could have given a clue to my, or in this case 'his,' thoughts.

"I assure you, I was quite serious," Bakhura stated, looking very determined. "You understand, everything the king owns, I will steal. Everything he shows compassion for, I will taint." I let out a small 'oh,' as if I hadn't been aware of it. Truthfully, I never thought I'd be counted as one of those 'steal-able and taint-able' objects. "I will return for you, Sa-Iset, and the Black Land will learn who their true king is; who truly has the power to tame the gods."

He ran his eyes over me one last time, which was actually even more disturbing than the first time, and then turned to sneak back past the still sleeping guard and no doubt out of the palace. It was one of the few times I started thinking about how much of a freak I was. And still am.

Heh heh…

Funnily enough, even with the creepy feeling of being sized up like a hot piece of ass by my past self, I felt a lot better. Besides, I was probably somewhere on the bottom of that river in the park in Domino City dreaming up all of this. Because, let's face it, the whole thing about half of Egypt worshipping me and the other half wanting to get into my pants? Too fucked up to be in any way true.

I took one last look at the sands of Egypt that my oxygen-deprived brain had probably conjured up and decided it wasn't such a bad way to die. Sure, the whole thing with the pharaoh was still a pain in the ass, but at least I'm not conscious enough to know I'm drowning. On the other hand, I've heard that drowning is a very comfortable way to go, if you can avoid panicking, that is. Which is theoretically impossible.

I gave the still unconscious guard a sly smirk, barely even caring to wonder how long he'd be out, and walked back inside, feeling oddly relieved with my newfound conviction that these were death hallucinations.

Or maybe I'd already died and this was the afterlife I'd been sent to? That thought brought down my mood quite a bit. But it also led me to wonder if it was possible for me to die in the first place, being a spirit and all..?

I became aware of my company moments before I found myself flung against the wall. I shouted as many curses in Egyptian, English and Japanese as I could with what little air hadn't been knocked out of me. And as soon as I regained some of my breath I looked around the corridor, expecting to see the one who'd attacked me.

Any lesser being would have panicked at the "touch of the gods" throwing them around, but me? I knew the power of a Millennium Item when I felt it.

A lone high priest dressed in white robes stood some distance away, staring at me from under a… well; quite frankly it looked like a hood. Akuna-something-or-other, my mind told me.

"The hell do you think you're doing, you asshole," I raged at him, attempting to physically pull myself from the item's grasp. "Let me go!" Akuna-something-or-other actually frowned as he approached me. And if I squinted really carefully, I could see the Millennium Eye glow. So I was right. It was him doing it!

"Calm yourself, young Kura, and listen to words of wisdom," the old man said and I rolled my eyes in response. Yeah… wisdom… I bet. "I find myself curious, if you were truly the child of Isis, should you not be able to overcome these magic tricks of a mortal man?" There was a strange smile on his face that made me hate him. More than I used to.

"What if the gods wanted me to experience life as a mortal, huh?" I snapped at him. "Ever think of that?" I figured I might as well use the 'child of god' -card. Maybe it would scare him off? Couldn't hurt to try…

The high priest just stared at me for a long while before coming to any kind of decision. The pressure pushing me to the wall lessened, but didn't let go completely.

"God, or mortal, you must understand our worries for the king's safety," Akuna-whatever told me, and that damned smile was back.

It was like he was doing some kind of "I'm going to threaten you, but explain my good intentions just in case you really are a god" routine. It really pissed me off.

"Let go of me, high priest," I hissed and glared, fully aware of how frightening I looked. Had I not been pinned to the wall for display, I would have looked down right terrifying. "I doubt the king will be pleased to hear about this…" I let my words trail off, even though I partly suspected they wouldn't have much of an effect.

"The king does not need to hear of our meeting here," the old fart answered. "And should it be my word against yours, remember that I served the king's father once, and I am highly respected within this court."

Oh, I just knew it. Stupid, pompous, hypocritical bastards the whole lot of them.

"Respected, like Shimon, I suppose," I shot back without fully thinking about what I was saying. "And still I recall Atem brushing his 'trusted' advisor off in favour of my company quite often." The high priest was no longer smiling, and I immediately knew our game had moved to a whole new level. "So tell me, respected high priest, were you the one behind the assassination attack too?"

"You accuse me of conspiracy with a tomb robber," the old man shouted in outrage. "How dare you…" I sneered and interrupted him, too tired and too angry of all the crap to listen to any more of it.

"I'm talking about the servant sent to kill me! The one Bakhura took care of!"

And then the power holding me in place disappeared and I stumbled at the sudden release. And you know what else? I pride myself to be able to read other people pretty well, and the look Akunadin gave me clearly said that he had no idea what I was talking about, and that he was really shocked to hear it. I tried to swallow back the uncertainty and nervousness I was starting to feel.

"It seems…" Akunadin mused to himself as well as to me. "I am not the only one who finds your presence unwanted, young Kura." He looked me up and down with an amount of hostility rivalling Yami. "If I were you, I would consider disappearing into the red land before you are sent to an early fate. Whatever it may be…" He turned and walked back to wherever he'd come from and I growled at his retreating back.

"You just keep wishing, old fart! You're not getting rid of me that easily," I called after him and turned to march back towards my own room. My good mood from earlier had disappeared, and I glowered and glared the entire way, making every guard straighten their backs and every servant run off in the other direction. It did little to improve my mood.

And can you guess who stood waiting by the doors to my room when I finally got there? Can you? It was Seth. High Priest Seth in all his proper, stiff-assed glory. He took a good look at me, opened the doors, and dismissed the servants and even the two guards stationed outside. We both entered the room in silence and he closed the doors with a heavy sigh.

"I began to worry," the brunette admitted silently. "And I see now that my worries were not without reason." I narrowed my eyes at him as he gave me a look that said he both wanted and didn't want to hear about why I was all riled up. With another sigh, Seth began moving towards a small table and the carafe of wine set upon it. "I am aware that King Atem can be a very demanding man…"

Now, let me explain something here. I was already pissed enough to torture someone. I was sick of the schizophrenic way I was being treated. I'd been sexually harassed by a pharaoh, manhandled by a high priest, threatened by my own past self… And here was Seth, acting all formal and proper and understanding when he clearly couldn't have wrapped his head around any of it even if I'd taken the time to explain everything! And somewhere along those lines I snapped.

See, I wanted to have some kind of revenge on everyone, no matter how small or insignificant, and decided it was about time I, Yami no Bakura, former Thief King of Egypt, showed these egoistical idiots that I could play their games better than they themselves could.

As Seth passed by me, I reached out and grabbed hold of the front of his robes. Using the momentum of his movement and temporary shock, I turned him, pulled him close, and kissed the breath out of him.

Oh yes, Yami Bakura can play mind games too. You just watch.

**TBC…**


	13. Chapter 13

**I never considered myself having fans. Reviewers, yes. But fans? And so, whenever someone comes and tells me they're a fan of my work, I get all flustered and confused and suddenly I have to start writing something because I-have-a-fan-and-when-the-hell-did-that-happen?**

**...It's been so long since I last even thought about this story... I can hardly remember the plot any more. Yes, this is me, hitting my head against the desk trying to remember where I left off. And yes, it's short, but I need time to put myself back on track. **

**Ch. XIII**

I wasn't stupid enough to have sex with Seth, nor did I want to, so get your heads out of the gutter. You perverted freaks. But let me tell you, the way he was looking at me when I was done with his mouth, we might just as well have gone all the way. I didn't even bother to hide a satisfied smirk as I watched the proud High Priest gather his thoughts back from wherever they'd scattered off to.

You want to know my secret to success? No one in ancient Egypt kissed the way I do. And aside from being talented to begin with, I had picked up a few new tricks from the "civilised" world.

Civilised world… what a laugh… More like world in denial.

And it didn't hurt to completely ignore who I was kissing, but that's another story. Kind of… I'll get back to that later.

Now, I found the moment undeniably funny. Not only was I an interest to the King, the "god" of Egypt, but Seth, like all high priests, had taken a vow of celibacy. Neither fact seemed to bother Seth all that much at that very moment, though.

The brunette blinked dumbly a few times, something I never expected to see on that face, before grabbing the back of my head and pulling me in for another kiss. This time I let him set the pace for something a bit softer and… sweeter? Got the feeling he was trying to… how should I say… savour the moment? Shit, that sounded lame…

"King Atem would have us both executed for this," Seth murmured after a while, sounding somewhat husky. Partly, it was definitely my kiss doing it. Partly, I think the thought of mortal danger actually turned him on.

...heh heh.

Well, I managed a great feat off willpower then, and bit back the need to complain about how much my life had begun to remind me of a bad soap opera. I mean, getting chased by an angry King because I kissed his High Priest… bah! Yet at the same time I knew with certainty that the Pharaoh would kill us with a snap of his fingers if he ever heard about our little moment here.

Pharaohs tend to be possessive creeps like that.

The thought was almost enough for me to feel sorry about leading Seth on like this. Almost.

"I should not linger here," Seth muttered and slowly let go of me. I'd go as far to say 'finally let go,' but I kind of felt I owed him a little. He wasn't that bad of a guy. Probably the only one I could stand aside form my past self.

Stupid, Ra damned conscience.

Yes, I have a conscience! I just don't like to listen to it. Get over it!

Seth looked down at the floor, and then glanced at me before looking at the floor again. He nodded once. Glanced at me again, and walked out of my room, closing the door behind him. I guess he had a lot to think about, with us being all cuddly and stuff behind the Pharaoh's back. Must have been nerve wrecking… for him, that is. I was actually, finally, starting to feel like I had some sort of control in this fucked up reality.

With a wide and absolutely wicked smirk I stretched my arms above my head, wincing just a little at the pull on my freshly carved wounds. Now, all I had to do was figure out who had sent the wannabe-assassin, how to ruin whatever Akuna-whoever was planning, how to deal with the Pharaoh while keeping Seth on a leash, and then the whole business with my past self.

No problems at all.

None.

Yeah right.

But like hell if I was going to care about all that right then. I walked out on the balcony and grinned like a maniac while humming a song I couldn't remember the name of.

Actually, I still can't remember the name of it… huh.

Despite the city's busy streets I directed my attention to the desert. Desret, the Red Land. My true home.

Hell, maybe I wasn't in as sharp a shape as I used to be. Maybe I didn't look the part of a local and maybe I did have a pretty comfortable place to live right now. But out there... that was where I truly wanted to be. I would give everything up, the room in the pharaoh's palace, all the jewellery and fancy clothes, my life in modern Japan... I think I'd even give up the millennium ring if it meant I could live like I used to. Where I used to. On my own terms.

It was never easy, I'll admit that, but... as lame as it'll make me sound (and don't tell Malik this; I'd never hear the end of it... seriously, I'll kill you if you do), it was the happiest time of my whole long, seemingly never-ending life.

There! I said it!

I was happy!

Now fuck off!

…

…

Stupid, Ra damned nostalgia.

Skipping a bit of boring angst-ing and memory surfing, I'm sure you all remember that weird rule about someone finding me every time I want to be left alone? Here's the proof that it's real: A freaking announcer entered the room, and after looking around to make sure that I was there to hear him announce, he called out:

"High Priestess Isis has come to speak with you."

And then he walked out.

And the High Priestess walked in.

I just kind of gave her a look and then turned back to the balcony view. I've never liked that woman. Not in the past and not in the future.

"I wished to speak with you in private, Kura son of Iset," she said. I continued to ignore her. "Will you listen to my words?" And I could hear the rustling of her dress and soft tapping of the sandals she wore as she walked closer to me. I huffed.

"I'm not very interested in any company right now," I told her, quite rudely actually. She didn't seem to care.

"What I wish to say holds great importance." She came to stand a short distance from me, looking over the view. I couldn't keep back a silent "I bet," muttered in English. Isis glanced at me curiously but I just kept on ignoring her.

A moment of silence later, the High Priestess apparently decided to go ahead with whatever was so important.

"I have been given a gift," she began telling me. I took a deep breath and wondered if I could get more watermelon before evening. "I can see events to come and deeds that have not yet been committed." She paused for a second or two. "However, as I attempted to see what is to come before the next moon, I saw naught but fractions of what would be, were you not with us."

I blinked. Isis' future-sense was broken? Interesting.

"Maybe you're not supposed to know what's going to happen," I pointed out. On the inside, though, I was more than a little worried. So the Tauk didn't recognise me in their... um... future? Past? Timeline?

I think... I confused myself. You get my point.

I'm here, but at the same time I'm not here. Apparently.

Isis nodded slowly, somewhat thoughtfully, like she was considering it but not quite buying it.

"I fear that your time with us will be a short one," she said after a while. "I feel a disturbance... all is not as it should be. Though I would not question the deed of the gods, I feel as though you, son of Iset, were not meant to walk among us." I kept silent. What the heck was I supposed to say to that anyway?

I think Isis took my silence as some form of confirmation judging by the look on her face. She made some strange, nodding, knowing, kind of I-bless-you sort of gesture before leaving. I didn't really acknowledge her in any way. Why would I?

Instead, I turned towards the desert again and actually thought about what she'd told me. Man... things were just getting weirder and weirder.

That night, after my request for more watermelon had been fulfilled, I had that unpleasant dream about drowning again. It was cold and wet and dark, and at the back of my head I could hear a high pitched voice shouting:

"_Kura… Kura! Sen iret-ek! Kura! Med-ji, ini hem-netjer Mahaado! Hab wepwet en Nesew!"_

And then, when I woke up, there was a merry bunch of people crowding around my bed. An old guy in really, really lordly clothes, a bunch of slaves, Mahaado and that Mana-brat. And… they seemed oddly happy to see me awake. Interesting…

"Thank you, Master Healer," I heard Mahaado say to the wrinkled old coot, though it took me a while to wire my brain back to translating the language. "You may leave now." The geezer nodded and got up from where he'd been sitting on the edge of my bed.

Funny…

Forgetting my own native language like that, I mean.

"Please, do not hesitate to summon me, should I be needed further," he… I think croaked is a good word to describe it. He croaked. The Healer-geezer bowed to the High Priests, then to me, and then left the room. Mahaado turned towards someone outside my line of vision.

"Inform our King that the son of Isis has awakened," he ordered. I'm assuming from the tone of his voice that he was talking to a slave. Doesn't really matter.

At that moment I just wanted to know what the heck was going on, and I'm sure no one can blame me for it, so I called out to the priest. Or tried to… It actually sounded a bit more like:

"Mhhhd…"

Seemed to have the desired effect anyway. Mahaado sat down at the edge of my bed and turned all of his royally holy attention to me.

"You've been struck with a decease unknown to us," he told me before I could ask. "Mana found you; your skin cold as death and your breath stilled. We believe… it may be that your mortal body cannot contain the spirit of a god-born. Many priests have prayed for Isis to let her son remain among us."

I blinked. And stared at him. And blinked again.

Uh, yeah. I was flattered and all about the whole god-thing, but these guys were really pushing it. And they only wanted me around because Mr. High-and-mighty hadn't gotten me to… you know. Except for maybe Seth, who happened to have personal reasons for wanting me around.

Personal reasons that actually didn't differ that much from Atem's reasons, now that I think about it...

Well... shit.

That actually sucked.

A lot.

**TBC...**


	14. Chapter 14

**I think it's time we added some drama here, don't you? And a nice big dosage of one sided Atem+Bakura.**

**Even if I've lost all my readers, I'm determined to finish this story one way or another. It started off as an anti- author block, and grew into something I enjoy working on. Reviews or not, I will take this to the end it deserves.**

**Ch. XIV**

High and mighty pharaohs do not run. Never. No matter the reasons. But they do walk briskly if the situation calls for it. And I could tell that it was a particularity brisk walk that Atem had used to get to my room. The look on his face made me want to stand up and put some well placed distance between us. I didn't get much further than sitting halfway up before the bastard flung himself towards me. He flung himself towards me! I mean, what the amenta is up with that? High and mighty pharaohs do not fling themselves towards anything!

Hands that had never seen a day's worth of hard work in their lives dug into my hair and demanding lips just about shoved themselves against mine before softening with a deep sigh from the tri-colour bastard. The servants and priests silently left the room. The door was pulled closed behind them.

And I shoved Atem off the bed with all my strength. There was the loveliest little thump when his back hit the floor, and I just had to take a few seconds to enjoy the startled look before sliding out on the opposite side of the bed and wiping my mouth with the back of my hand in a movement I made sure the idiot saw and understood.

And then... the royal high-ass frowned. What sort of frown was it? I'll tell you. It was the kind that was running out of patience and existed only to tell you how screwed you really are.

"Don't get any ideas," I warned and pointed my finger at the pharaoh while he collected his holyness off the floor. There was a very visible twitch at the corner of the bastards eye.

"Young Kura..." he answered, apparently not so impressed with my threatening. "Beauty of the Black Land... the white jewel I rescued from Hapy..." Oh, he was growling now. "How mad you drive me. You tease me and mock me. And how you tempt me...

"I adorn you in the softest of fabrics and most precious of gems. I neglect my duty as the ruler of the land to see you well and I rush to your side without a moments hesitation, my heart wild with worry! And still you deny me!"

I had to take a step back. Just a small one. An angry pharaoh is never a good thing. Instinctively I began to look for an escape, while still keeping an eye on the danger. Atem, in the mean time, began to stalk, yes, stalk, his way around the bed and towards me.

"I am at my wits end! Have I not been patient? Have I not abided by your wishes? The palace dancers interest me no longer! The food I eat holds no taste lest you be there sharing it! You haunt my thoughts! My dreams!" He paused and then spat out:

"Khewew hes-netjer!"

…I actually flinched at that. No one had ever called me something like that. And suddenly, 'child of Isis' wasn't such a bad title after all.

"I never claimed to want any of your attention!" I yelled back. I'm not one to go down without a fight. "You got it in your head to start making passes at me! No matter how many times I said 'No'. Do you even understand that word? No!" I didn't need to look down to know he was clenching his fists. And I didn't need more than to shift my position a bit, and I was ready to move.

The pharaoh grit his teeth, then took a very slow and deliberate breath before opening his mouth.

"What must I do before you bow to me? Is my love not enough?" And before I could so much as open my mouth to tell him that no, it wasn't enough, he turned away. I still to this day wonder if those few steps he took then were planned out to cut off one of my escape routes. "Isis says your time with us is limited, and even Mahaado believes your body cannot contain your spirit." Something close to a wry laugh made itself heard. "But I will not lose you. Not to that thief. And, gods forgive me, not to Anubis."

Atem stopped moving and just kind of stared at nothing in particular. And I was weighing my options. Could I manage to sneak away without him noticing? From this angle, probably not. Should I say something? I really, really didn't want his attention directed at me again. But my sharp tongue has always been one of my greatest weapons. And a few of my downfalls.

"You can't have me," I stated coldly. "I don't even want to hear the stuff your saying. You're wasting your time..." Might have been a bit desperate, but... "The gods do not wish for you to defile me."

I'll admit I held my breath when he turned to look at me. I can't put my finger on that emotion in his eyes, but something about what I said didn't seem to add up in his head.

"I am the embodiment of Horus. I am the son of Osiris; a god in a mortal body." Oh, right. There was that. "My right to your body, to your touch, are greater than that of any being upon this land. It is not defilement, it is a blessing. A fool could see this! The son of Osiris and the son of Isis are meant to unite!"

And there he went off yelling again.

"Where do you even pull this stuff from?" I raised my voice to match his. I was referring to the title he'd given me, not the uniting gods thing. He could go unite with all the children of Isis for all I cared, but he didn't need to shove that crap on me.

I was human, I got cursed, I turned into a spirit. And Isis had nothing to do with that.

The pharaoh frowned again. The very same kind he'd had earlier. And this time I could tell there was anger, frustration and even desperation mixed up in that delusional head. A dangerous mixture in anyone, even worse with someone who's considered a god my his subjects.

For someone who loves the sound of his own holyer-than-thou voice, I expected Atem to say something. I expected an retort, or a speech or more weird confessions. I did not expect him to suddenly make a move towards me.

I managed to dodge so I wouldn't be caught in a corner, but the short distance between us cost me my arm. And with that I mean; the bastard grabbed my arm in a too tight grip for me to simply struggle away from. The glare I gave him carried all the hatred I ever felt towards him. I'm sure of that. Somehow, he managed to match that with a equal amount of cold rage.

"Your seductor's ways deserve a forceful handling, Kura," the pharaoh said, like he was stating some obvious, inescapable truth. "But I would have no pleasure in causing you pain." I sneered and tested the grip he had on my arm. It only succeeded in him tightening his hold until I was certain there would be bruises. "Do not. run. from me. Kura." His eyes narrowed. Without thinking I bared my teeth in raw disdain. I had nothing to say to this idiot any more. He wasn't listening, didn't care about any opinion but his own. I couldn't win a verbal fight with him.

His free hand caught hold of my shoulder and shoved me. As I took a step back to steady myself, the bastard followed me. I was quick to realize he was bodily forcing me backwards, and did the only sensible thing; I drove my fist into his side.

Atem doubled over with a muffled sound. His forehead thumped against my shoulder and the grip on my arm tightened to a point that almost made me gasp in pain.

With his final, angered push against me, I stumbled backwards. My lower legs caught against the wooden bed and the framework rattled ominously at the weight of two grown men falling upon it. The sheer mass of muscles Atem possessed knocked enough wind out of me to make me cough. Above me, I could feel the bastard take a quick moment to gather himself from the punch I'd thrown earlier. My eyes widened when my brain caught up with what was happening. The bastard, perverted, pharaoh was on top of me!

"Get off!"

There was no room for a second punch, so I tried to shove him off instead. The pharaoh grunted and let go of my abused arm to better pin me down. He may have been shorter than me, but in strength, he won out. I had Ryo's thin frame now, which was nothing like the one I had in my own time. And, as it turned out, not much against Atem either.

The reminder served to piss me off even more.

I cursed him. I cursed him in every language I knew while dread over the situation began to seep in. I would have bitten him, but there was nothing I could reach. Had I been anyone else, I would probably have sobbed in frustration. This wasn't supposed to happen!

"Quiet."

I hate to admit it, but the sheer authority of the order made me still in surprise. Then I noticed a glint in his millennium puzzle. He wasn't using its full powers on me, but enough to make me comply. There is no describing the hatred that burned in my gut at that knowledge.

The pharaoh shifted into a more comfortable position and I felt his breath against my ear. The puzzle tumbled down against my side, and it's touch could just as well have burned me with the reminder of its existence.

"I will not have you against your will, my love," I heard him say, each word sending a puff of hot air over my skin. "When you see reason, you will give yourself willingly, I do not doubt that.

"From this day forth, however, you will share my bed. This room will still be here for you to use, but you will sleep by my side in the coming nights. You will see how gentle I can be. And I will see you safe from Bakhura, and this illness that haunts you."

I didn't say anything. Nothing I could have said would have gotten through to him anyway.

**TBC...**


End file.
